Εμφανίζονται 100 (επί συνόλου 300) τίτλοι με αναζήτηση: Πληροφορίες για τον τόπο στην ευρύτερη περιοχή: "ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ Νομός ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ" .
ΚΑΣΤΑΝΟΧΩΡΙ (Χωριό) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Το Καστανοχώρι είναι ένα μικρό ορεινό χωριό της επαρχίας Μεγαλόπολης,
που παλαιότερα ονομαζόταν Κραμποβός. Βρίσκεται σε υψόμετρο 700 μέτρων στις πλαγιές
του Λύκαιου όρους. Κοντά
είναι το χωριό Λύκαιο. Κατά
την απογραφή του 1991 είχε μόνο 101 κατοίκους.
Κοντά στο χωριό οι Ελληνες υπό τους Αθ. Γρηγοριάδη και Γιάννη Γκρίτζαλη
απέκρουσαν στις 20 Ιουλίου του 1825 τμήμα του Τουρκοαιγυπτιακού στρατού του Ιμπραήμ.
Στις 21 Ιουλίου του 1825 επανήλθαν 1000 Τουρκοαιγύπτιοι κι έκαψαν το χωριό. Συγκρούστηκαν
όμως μαζί τους Καρυώτες και Τριπολιτσιώτες. Κατά τη σύγκρουση φονεύτηκαν 150 Τούρκοι
και αιχμαλωτίστηκαν αρκετοί.
Το κείμενο παρατίθεται τον Μάρτιο 2003 από την ακόλουθη ιστοσελίδα του ARCADIA website, του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών
ΑΘΗΝΑΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΑΛΤΕΤΣΙ
Athenaeum (Athenaion). A fortress in the S. of Arcadia, and in the territory of Megalopolis, is described by Plutarch as a position in advance of the Lacedaemonian frontier (embole tes Lakonikes), and near Belemina. It was fortified by Cleomenes in B.C. 224, and was frequently taken and retaken in the wars between the Achaean League and the Spartans. Leake supposes that it occupied the summit of Mount Tzimbaru, on which there are some remains of an Hellenic fortress. In that case it must have been a different place from the Athenaeum mentioned by Pausanias on the road from Megalopolis to Asea, and 20 stadia from the latter. (Plut. Cleom. 4; Pol. ii. 46, 54, iv. 37, 60, 81; Paus. viii. 44. § § 2, 3; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 248.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΚΑΚΗΣΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Akakesion: Eth. Akakesios. Α town of Arcadia in the district of Parrhasia, at
the foot of a hill of the same name, and 36 stadia on the road from Megalopolis
to Phigalea. It is said to have been founded by Acacus, son of Lycaon; and according
to some traditions Hermes was brought up at this place by Acacus, and hence derived
the surname of Acacesius. Upon the hill there was a statue in stone, in the time
of Pausanias, of Hermes Acacesius; and four stadia from the town was a celebrated
temple of Despoena. This temple probably stood on the hill, on which are now the
remains of the church of St. Elias.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΑΜΙΛΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΒΙΔΙ
Amilos: Amilios. A village of Arcadia in the territory of Orchomenus, and on the
road from the latter to Stymphalus.
ΑΝΘΗΝΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΣΤΡΟΣ
Anthene (Anthene, Thuc.; Anthana, Steph. B. s. v.; Athene, Paus.: Eth. Anthaneus, Steph. B.), a town in Cynuria, originally inhabited by the Aeginetans, and mentioned by Thucydides along with Thyrea, as the two chief places in Cynuria. Modern travellers are not agreed respecting its site.
ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ
Arcadia (Arkadla: Eth. Arkas, pl. Arkades, Areas, pl. Arcades), the central country
of Peloponnesus, was bounded on the E. by Argolis, on the N. by Achaia, on the
W. by Elis, and on the S. by Messenia and Laconia. Next to Laconia it was the
largest country in Peloponnesus; its greatest length was about 50 miles, its breadth
varied from 35 to 41 miles, and its area was about 1700 square miles. It was surrounded
on all sides by a ring of mountains, forming a kind of natural wall, which separated
it from the other Peloponnesian states; and it was also traversed, in its interior,
by various ranges of mountains in all directions. Arcadia has been aptly called
the Swjtieland of Greece.
The western and eastern parts of Arcadia differed considerably in
their physical features. In the western region the mountains were wild, high,
and bleak, closely piled upon one another, and possessing vallies of small extent
and of little fertility. The mountains were covered with forests and abounded
in game; and even in the time of Pausanias (viii. 23. § 9), not only wild boars,
but even bears were found in them. It was drained by the Alpheius and its tributary
streams. This part of Arcadia was thinly populated, and its inhabitants were reckoned
among the rudest of the Greeks. They obtained their subsistence by hunting, and
the rearing and feeding of cattle.
On the other hand, the eastern region is intersected by mountains
of lower elevation, between which there are several small and fertile plains,
producing corn, oil, and wine. These plains are so completely inclosed by mountains,
that the streams which flow into them from the mountains only find outlets for
their waters by natural chasms in the rocks, which are not uncommon in limestone
mountains. Many of these streams, after disappearing beneath the ground, rise
again after a greater or less interval. These chasms in the mountains were called
zerethra by the Arcadians (Strab. p. 389), and are termed katavothra by the modern
Greeks. (Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 55.) In these plains, enclosed by mountains,
were situated almost all the chief cities of Arcadia,--Tegea, Mantineia, Orchomenus,
Stymphalus, and Pheneus, whose territories extended along the whole eastern frontier
of Arcadia, from the borders of Laconia to those of Sicyon and Pellene, in Achaia.
Of all the productions of Arcadia the best known were its asses, which
were in request in every part of Greece. (Varr. R. R. ii. 1. § 14; Plin. viii.
43. s. 68; Plant. Asin. ii. 2. 67; Strab. p. 388; Pers. iii. 9, Arcadiae pecuaria
rudere credas. )
The principal mountains in Arcadia were: on the N. Cyllene, in the
NE. corner of the country, the highest point in the Peloponnesus (7788 feet),
which runs in a westerly direction, forming the boundary between Achaia and Elis,
and was known under the names of Crathis, Aroanius, and Erymanthus. On the W.
Lampeia and Pholoe, both of them a southern continuation of Erymanthus, and the
other mountains separating Arcadia from Elis, but the names of which are not preserved.
On the E. Lyrceius, Artemisium, Parthenium, and the range of mountains separating
Arcadia from Argolis, and connected with the northern extremity of Taygetus. In
the S. Maenalus and Lycaeus. Of these mountains an account is given under their
respective names.
The chief river of Arcadia, which is also the principal river of the
Peloponnesus, is the Alpheius. It rises near the southern frontier, flows in a
northwesterly direction, and receives many tributaries. Besides these, the Styx,
Eurotas, and Erasinuis, also rise in Arcadia. Of the numerous small lakes on the
eastern frontier the most important was Stymphalus, near the town of that name.
The Arcadians regarded themselves as the most ancient inhabitants
of Greece, and called themselves proselenoi, as laying claim to an antiquity higher
than that of the moon, though some modern writers interpret this epithet differently.
(Apoll. Rhod. iv. 264; Lucian, de Astrol. c. 26; Schol. ad Aristoph. Nub. 397;
Heyne, De Arcadibus luna antiquioribus, in Opuscula, vol. ii. pp. 333--355.) They
derived their name from an eponymous ancestor Areas, the son of Zeus, though his
genealogy is given differently by different writers. (Dict. of Biogr. art. Areas.)
The Greek writers call them indigenous (autochthones), or Pelasgians, and Pelasgus
is said to have been their first sovereign. Herodotus says that the Arcadians
and Cynurians were the only two peoples in Peloponnesus who had never changed
their abodes; and we know that Arcadia was inhabited by the same race from the
earliest times of which we have any historical records. (Herod. viii. 73, and
i. 146, Arkades Pelasgoi; Xen. Hell. vii. 1. 23; Dem. de Fals. Leg. § 261; Paus.
viii. 1; Strab. p. 338.) Shut up within their mountains the Arcadians experienced
fewer changes than most of the inhabitants of Greece. They are represented as
a people simple in their habits, and moderate in their desires; and, according
to the testimony of their countryman Polybius, they retained down to his time
a high reputation among the Greeks for hospitality, kindness, and piety. He ascribes
these excellencies to their social institutions, and especially \ to their cultivatio
of music, which was supposed to counteract the harshness of character which their
i rugged country had a tendency to produce; and he attributes the savage character
of the inhabitants of Cynaetha to their neglect of music. (Pol. iv. 20, / 21.)
We know from other authorities that music formed an important part of their education;
and : they were celebrated throughout antiquity both for their love of music and
for the success with which they cultivated it. (Comp. e. g. Virg. Eel. x. 32.)
The lyre is said to have been invented in their country by Hermes. The syrinx,
also, which was the musical instrument of shepherds, was the invention of Pan,
the tutelary god of Arcadia. The simplicity of the Arcadian character was exaggerated
by the Roman poets into an ideal excellence; and its shepherds were represented
as living in a state of innocence and virtue. But they did not possess an equal
reputation for intelligence, as is shown by the proverbial expressions, Arcadici
senses, Arcadicae acres, &c.: a blockhead is called by Juvenal (vii. 160) Arcadicus
juvenis. The Arcadians were a strong and hardy race of mountaineers; and, like
the Swiss in modern Europe, they constantly served as mercenaries. (Athen. i.
p. 27; Thuc. vii. 57.)
The religion of the Arcadians was such as might have been expected
from a nation of shepherds and huntsmen. Hermes was originally an Arcadian divinity,
said to have been born on Mt. Cyllene, and brought up on Mt. Acacesius; but the
deity whom they most worshipped was his son Pan, the great guardian of flocks
and shepherds. Another ancient Arcadian divinity was Artemis, who presided over
the chase, and who appears to have been originally a different goddess from Artemis,
the sister of Apollo, though the two were afterwards confounded. (Diet. of Biog.
art. Artemis.) The worship of Zeus, surnamed Lycaeus, was also very ancient in
Arcadia, and was celebrated with human sacrifices even down to the Macedonian
period, a fact which proves that the Arcadians still retained much of their original
rude and savage character, notwithstanding the praises of their countryman Polybius.
(Theoph. ap. Porphyr. de Abstin. ii. 27; comp. Pans. viii. 38. § 7.) Despoena
daughter of Poseidon and Demeter, was likewise worshipped with great solemnity
in Arcadia. (Paus. viii. 37.)
Of the history of the Arcadians little requires to be said. Pausanias
(viii. 1, seq.) gives a long list of the early Arcadian kings, respecting whom
the curious in such matters will find a minute account in Clinton. (Fast. Hell.
vol. i. pp. 88--92.) It appears from the genealogy of these kings that the Arcadians
were, from an early period, divided into several independent states. The most
ancient division appears to have been into three separate bodies. This is alluded
to in the account of the descendants of Arcas, who had three sons, Azan, Apheidas,
and Elatus, from whom sprang the different Arcadian kings (Paus. viii. 4); and
this triple division is also seen in the geographical distributions of the Arcadians
into Azanes, Parrhasii, and Trapezuntii. (Steph. B. s. v. Azania.) In the Trojan
war, however, there is only one Arcadian king mentioned, Agapenor, the son of
Ancaeus, and descendant of Apheidas, who sailed with the Arcadians against Troy,
in 60 ships, which had been supplied to them by Agamemnon. (Hom. Il. ii. 609.)
Previous to the Trojan war various Arcadian colonies are said to have been sent
to Italy. Of these the most celebrated was the one led by Evander, who settled
on the banks of the Tiber, at the spot where Rome was afterwards built, and called
the town which he built Pallantium, after the Arcadian place of this name, from
which he came. That these Arcadian colonies are pure fictions, no one would think
of doubting at the present day; but it has been suggested that an explanation
of them may be found in the supposition that the ancient inhabitants of Latium
were Pelasgians, like the Arcadians, and may thus have possessed certain traditions
in common. (Comp. Niebuhr, Hist. of Rome, vol. i. p. 86.)
On the invasion of Peloponnesus by the Dorians, the Arcadians, protected
by their mountains, maintained their independence (Herod. ii. 171 ; Strab. p.
333); but the Spartans, when their power became more fully developed, made various
attempts to obtain dominion over the Arcadian towns. Accordingly, the Arcadians
fought on the side of the Messenians in their wars against Sparta; and they showed
their sympathy for the Messenians by receiving them into their country, and giving
them their daughters in marriage at the close of the second Messenian war (B.C.
631), and by putting to death Aristocrates, king of Orchomenus, because he treacherously
abandoned the Messenians at the battle of the Treneh. (Diod. xv. 66; Pol. iv.
33; Paus. viii. 5. § 10, seq.) Since the Arcadians were not united by any political
league, and rarely acted in concert, till the foundation of Megalopolis by Epaminondas,
in B.C. 371, their history down to this period is the history of their separate
towns. It is only necessary to mention here the more important events, referring,
for details, to the separate articles under the names of these towns. Most of
the Arcadian towns were only villages, each independent of the other, but on the
eastern frontier there were some considerable towns, as has been mentioned above.
Of these by far the most important were Tegea and Mantineia, on the borders of
Laconia and Argolis, their territories consisting of the plain of Tripolitza.
It has already been stated, that the Spartans made various attempts
to extend their dominion over Arcadia. The whole of the northern territory of
Sparta originally belonged to Arcadia, and was inhabited by Arcadian inhabitants.
The districts of Sciratis, Beleminatis, Maleatis, and Caryatis, were at one time
part of Arcadia, but had been conquered and annexed to Sparta before B.C. 600.
(Grote, Hist. of Greece, vol. ii. p. 588.) The Spartans, however, met with a formidable
resistance from Tegea, and it was not till after a struggle, which lasted for
several centuries, and in the course of which the Spartans had been frequently
defeated, that Tegea at length acknowledged the supremacy of Sparta, about B.C.
560. From this time Tegea and the other Arcadian towns appear as the allies of
Sparta, and obeyed her orders as to the disposal of their military force; but
they continued to maintain their independence, and never became the subjects of
Sparta. In the Persian wars, the Arcadians fought under Sparta, and the Tegeatans
appear as the second military power in the Peloponnesus, having the place of honour
on the left wing of the allied army. (Herod. ix. 26.) Between the battle of Plataea
and the beginning of the third Messenian war (i. e. between B.C. 479 and 464),
the Arcadians were again at war with Sparta. Of this war we have no details, and
we only know that the Spartans gained two great victories, one over the Tegeates
and Argives at Tegea, and another over all the Arcadians, with the exception of
the Mantineians, at Dipaea (En Dipaeudin) in the Maenalian territory. (Herod.
ix. 35; Paus. iii. 11. § 7.) In the Peloponnesian war, all the Arcadian towns
remained faithful to Sparta, with the exception of Mantineia; but this city, which
was at the head of the democratical interest in Arcadia, formed an alliance with
Argos, and Athens, and Elis, in B.C. 421, and declared war against Sparta. The
Mantineians, however, were defeated, and compelled to renew their alliance with
Sparta, B.C. 417. (Thuc. v. 29, seq., 66, seq., 81.) Some years afterwards, the
Spartans, jealous of the power of Mantineia, razed the walls of the city, and
distributed the inhabitants among the four or five villages, of which they had
originally consisted, B.C. 385. (Xen. Hell. v. 2. 1--6; Diod. xv. 19.) The defeat
of the Spartans at the battle of Leuctra, by Epaminondas and the Thebans (B.C.
371), destroyed the Spartan supremacy in the Peloponnesus, and restored the independence
of the Arcadian towns. This victory was followed immediately by the restoration
of Mantineia, and later in the same year by the formation of a political confederation
in Arcadia. The person who took the most active part in effecting this union,
was a native of Mantineia, named Lycomedes, and his project was warmly seconded
by Epaminondas and the Boeotian chiefs. The plan was opposed by the aristocratical
parties at Orchomenus, Tegea, and other Arcadian towns, but it received the cordial
approbation of the great body of the Arcadian people. They resolved to found a
new city, which was to be the seat of the new government, and to be called Megalopolis,
or the Great City. The foundations of the city were immediately laid, and its
population was drawn from about 40 petty Arcadian townships. Of the constitution
of the new confederation we have very little information. We only know that the
great council of the nation, which used to meet at Megalopolis, was called hoi
Murioi, or the Ten Thousand. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 3, seq., vii. 1. § 38; Paus. viii.
27; Diod. xv. 59.) This council was evidently a representative assembly, and was
not composed exclusively of Megalopolitans; but when and how often it was assembled,
and whether there was any smaller council or not, are questions which cannot be
answered. (For details, see Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, vol. v. p. 88.) A standing
army was also formed, called Epariti (Eparitoi), consisting of 5000 men, to defend
the common interests of the confederation. (Xen. Hell. vii. 4. 34, vii. 5. § 3;
Diod. xv. 62, 67; Hesych. s. v. eporoetoi.) Supported by the Thebans, the Arcadians
were able to resist all the attempts of the Spartans to prevent the new confederacy
from becoming a reality; but they sustained one signal defeat from the Spartans
under Archidamus, in B.C. 367, in what is called the Tearless battle, although
the statement that 10,000 of the Arcadians and their Argive allies were slain,
without the loss of a single man on the Spartan side, is evidently an exaggeration.
(Plut. Ages. 33; Diod. xv. 72; Xen. Hell. vii. 1. 28, seq.) In B.C. 365, a war
broke out between the Arcadians and Eleans, in which the former were not only
successful, but took possession of Olympia, and gave to the Pisatans the presidency
of the Olympic games (364). The members of the Arcadian government appropriated
a portion of the sacred treasures at Olympia to pay their troops; but this proceeding
was warmly censured by the Mantineians, who were, for some reason, opposed to
the supreme government. The latter was supported by Tegea, as well as by the Thebans,
and the Mantineians, in consequence, were led to ally themselves with their ancient
enemies the Spartans. (Xen. Hell. vii. 4; Diod. xv. 77, seq.) Thus, the two most
powerful cities of Arcadia were again arrayed against each other, and the strength
of the new confederation was destroyed almost as soon as it was formed. The disturbed
state of Arcadia brought Epaminondas at the head of a Theban army into Peloponnesus,
in B.C. 362; and his death at the battle of Mantineia was followed by a general
peace among all the belligerents, with the exception of Sparta. In the subsequent
disturbances in Greece, we hear little of the Arcadians; and though Megalopolis
continued to be an important city, the political confederation lost all real power.
After the death of Alexander the Great, we find many of the Arcadian cities in
the hands of tyrants; and so little union was there between the cities, that some
of them joined the Achaean, and others the Aetolian, league. Thus Megalopolis
was united to the Achaean League, whereas Orchomenus, Tegea, and Mantineia, were
members of the Aetolian. (Pol. ii. 44, 46.) Subsequently, the whole of Arcadia
was annexed to the Achaean League, to which it continued to belong till the dissolution
of the league by the Romans, when Arcadia, with the rest of the Peloponnesus,
became part of the Roman province of Achaia. Like many of the other countries
of Greece, Arcadia rapidly declined under the Roman dominion. Strabo describes
it as almost deserted at the time when he wrote; and of all its ancient cities
Tegea was the only one still inhabited in his day. (Strab. p. 388.) For our knowledge
of the greater part of the country we are indebted chiefly to Pausanias, who has
devoted one of his books to a description of its cities and their remains.
The following is a list of the towns of Arcadia:
1. In Tegeatis (Tegeatis), the SE. district, Tegea with the dependent places Manthyrea,
Phylace, Garea, Corytheis.
2. In Mantinice (Mantinike), the district N. of Tegeatis, Mantineia with the dependent
places, Maera, Petrosaca, Phoezon, Nestane, Melangeia, Elymia.
3. In Stymplmalia (Stumphalia), the district N. of Mantinice, Stymphalus, Oligyrtum,
Alea.
4. In Maenalia (Mainalia), so called from Mt. Maenalus, the district S. and W.
of Mantinice, and W. of Tegeatis: on the road from Megalopolis to Tegea, Ladoceia;
Haemoniae (Haimoniai), probably on the western side of Mt. Tzimbaru (Paus. viii.
3. § 3, 44. § 1; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 247); Oresthasium
a little to the right of the road; Aphrodisium (Aphrodision, Paus. viii. 44. §
2); Athenaeum; Asea; Pallantium. On the road from Megalopolis to Maenalus, along
the valley of the Helisson, Peraetheis (Peraitheis, Paus. viii. 3. § 4, 27. §
3, 36. § 7), Lycoa, Dipaea, Suaiatia, Maenalus. N. of Maenalus, Anemosa and Helisson.
Between Pallantium and Asea Eutea The inhabitants of most of these towns were
removed to Megalopolis on the foundation of the latter city, which was situated
in the SW. corner of Maenalia. The same remark applies to the inhabitants of most
of the towns in the districts Maleatis, Cromitis, Parrhasia, Cynuria, Eutresia.
5. In Maleatis (Maleatis), a district S. of Maenalia, on the borders of Laconia.
The inhabitants of this district, and of Cromitis, are called Aegytae by Pausanias
(viii. 27. § 4), because the Lacedaemonian town of Aegys originally belonged to
Arcadia. Malea; Leuctra or Leuctum; Phalaeseae; Scirtonium (Skirtonion, Paus.
viii. 27. § 4), of uncertain site.
6. In Cromitis (Kromitis), a district west of Maleatis, on the Messenian frontier:
Cromi or Cromsus; Gatheae; Phaedrias (Phaidrias, Paus. viii. 35. § 1), on the
road from Megalopolis to Carnasium, perhaps on the height above Neokhori. (Leake,
Peloponnesiaca, p. 236.)
7. In Parrhasia (Parrhadike, Thuc. v. 33), a district on the Messenian frontier,
N. of Cromitis and Messenia, occupying the left bank of the plain of the Alpheius:
Macareae; Daseae; Acacesium; Lycosura; Thocnia; Basilis; Cypsela; Bathos; Tra[ezus;
Acontitum and Proseis (Akontion, Proseis), both of uncertain site. (Paus. viii.
27. § 4.) The Parrhasii (Parrhasioi) are mentioned as one of the most ancient
of the Arcadian tribes. (Strab. p. 388; Steph. B. s. v. Azania.) During the Peloponnesian
war the Mantineians had extended their supremacy over the Parrhasii, but the latter
were restored to independence by the Lacedaemonians, B.C. 421. (Thuc. v. 33.)
Homer mentions a town Parrhasia, said to have been founded by Parrhasus, son of
Lycaon, or by Pelasgus, son of Arestor, which Leake conjectures to be the same
as Lycosura. (Hom. Il. ii. 608; Plin. iv. 10; Steph. B. s. v. Parrhasia.) The
Roman poets frequently us, the adjectives Parrhasius and Parrhasis as equivalent
to Arcadian. (Virg. Aen. viii. 344, xi. 31; [p. 193] Ov. Met. viii. 315.) Thus
we find Parrhasides stellae, i. e. Ursa major (Ov. Fast. iv. 577); Parrhasia dea,
i. e. Carmenta (Ov. Fast. i. 618); Parrhasia virgo, i. e. Callisto. (Ov. Trist.
ii. 190.) 8. In Phigalice, W. of Parrhasia and N. of Messenia, Phigalia.
9. In Cynuria, N. of Phigalice and Parrhasia: Lycaea (Lycoa); Theisoa; Brenthe;
Rhaeteae (Hpaaiteai), at the confluence of the Gortynius and Alpheius (Paus. viii.
28. § 3); Thyraeum; Hypsus; Gortys or Gortyna; Maratha; Buphagium; Aliphera.
10. In Eutresia (Eutresia), a district between Parrhasia and Maenalia, inhabited
by the Eutresii (Xen. Hell. vii. 1. 29), of which the following towns are enumerated
by Pausanias (viii. 27. § 3): Tricoloni (Trikolonoi, viii. 3. § 4, 35. § 6); Zoeteium
or Zoetia (Zoiteion or Zoitia, viii. 35. § 6); Charisia (Charisia, viii. 3. §
4, 35. § 5); Ptoeclerma (Ptolederma); Cnausum (Knauson); Paroreia (Paroreia, viii.
35. § 6). In Eutresia, there was a village, Scias (Skias), 13 stadia from Megalopolis;
then followed in order, northwards, Charisia, Tricoloni, Zoeteium or Zoetia, and
Paroseia; but the position of the other places is doubtful. Stephanus speaks of
a town Eutresii (s. v. Eutresis), and Hesychius of a town Eutre (s. v. Eutre);
but in Pausanias the name is only found as that of the people.
11. In Heraeatis (Heraiatis), the district in the W. on the borders of Elis, Heraea
and Melaeneae
12. In Orchomenia (Orchomenia), the district N. of Eutresia and Cynuria, and E.
of Hereatis: Orchomenus; Amilus; Methydrium; Phalanthum; Theisoa; Teuthis; Nonacris,
Callia, and Dipoena, forming a Tripolis, but otherwise unknown. (Paus. viii. 27.
§ 4.) This Nonacris must not be confounded with the Nonacris in Pheneatis, where
the Styx rose.
13. In Caphyatis (Kaphuatis), the district N. and W. of Orchomenia: Caphyae and
Nasi (Nasoi) on the river Tragus. (Paus. viii. 23. § § 2, 9.)
14. In Pheneatis (Pheneatis), the district N. of Caphyatis, and in the NE. of
Arcadia, on the frontiersof Achaia: Pheneus; Lycuria; Carye; Penteleum; Nonacris.
15. In Cleitorica (Kleitoria), the district W. of Pheneatis: Cleitor; Lusi; Paus;
Seirae (Seirai, Paus. viii. 23. § 9; nr. Dekchuni, Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 221),
on the frontiers of Psophidia; Leucasium (Leukasion), Mesoboa (Mesoboa), Nasi
(Nasoi), Oryx or Halus (Orux, Halous), and Thaliades (Xaliades), all on the river
Ladon. (Paus. viii. 25. § 2; Leake, Peloponnesiace, p. 229.)
16. Cynaetha with a small territory N. of Cleitoria.
17. In Psophidia (Psophidia), a district W. of Cleitoria, on the frontiers of
Elis: Psopsis with the village Tropaea.
18. In Thelpusia (Xelpusia), the district S. of the preceding, also on the frontiers
of Elis: Thelpusa and Onceium or. Onncae.
The site of the following Arcadian towns, mentioned by Stephanus Byzantinus, is
quite unknown: Allante (Allante); Anthana (Anthana); Aulon (Au_lon); Derea (Derea);
Diope (Diope); Elis (Elis); Ephyra (Ephura); Eua (Eua); Eugeia (Eugeia); Hysia
(Husia); Nede (Nede); Nestania (Nestania); Nostia. (Nostia); Oechalia (Oichalia);
Pylae (Pulai); Phorieia (Phorieia); Thenae (Xenai); Thyraeeum (Xuraion).
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ΑΣΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΑΛΤΕΤΣΙ
he Asea: Aseates, a town of Arcadia in the district Maenalia, situated
near the frontier of Laconia, on the road from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea.
Asea took part in the foundation of Megalopolis, to which city most of its inhabitants
removed (Paus. viii. 27. § 3, where for Iasaia we ought to read Asaia or Asea);
but Asea continued to exist as an independent state, since the Aseatae are mentioned,
along with the Megalopolitae, Tegeatae, and Pallantieis, as joining Epaminondas
before the battle of Mantineia, B.C. 362. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 5) At a later time,
however, Asea belonged to Megalopolis, as we see from the descriptions of Strabo
and Pausanias. The city was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, who mentions its
acropolis. In its territory, and at the distance of 5 stadia from the the city,
on the road to Pallantium, were the sources of the Alpheius, and near them those
of the Eurotas. The two rivers united their streams, and, after flowing in one
channel for 20 stadia, disappeared beneath the earth; the Alpheius rising again
at Pegae, and the Eurotas at Belemina in Laconia. North of Asea, on the road to
Pallantium, and on the summit of Mt. Boreium (Kravari), was a temple of Athena
Soteira and Poseidon, said to have been founded by Odysseus on his return from
Troy, and of which the ruins were discovered by Leake and Ross. The remains of
Asea are to be seen on the height which rises above the copious spring of water
called Frangovrysi, Frank-spring, the sources of the Alpheius. (Strab. pp. 275,
343; Paus. viii. 3. § 4, viii. 44. § 3, viii. 54. § 2; Steph. B. s. v.)
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ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Basilis: Eth. Basilites, a town of Arcadia in the district Parrhasia, on the Alpheius,
said to have been founded by the Arcadian king Cypselus, and containing a temple
of the Eleusinian Demeter. It is identified by Kiepert in his map with the Cypsela
mentioned by Thucydides. There are a few remains of Basilis near Kyparissia.
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ΒΕΛΕΜΙΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑ
Belmina, Belbina: Eth. Belbinetes (Steph. B.). A town in the NW. frontier
of Laconia, the territory of which was called Belminatis. (Belminatis, Polyb.
ii. 54; Strab. viii. p. 343.) It was originally an Arcadian town, but was conquered
by the Lacedaemonians at an early period, and annexed to their territory; although
Pausanias does not believe this statement. (Paus. viii. 35. § 4.) After the battle
of Leuctra Belbina was restored to Arcadia; most of its inhabitants were removed
to the newly founded city of Megalopolis; and the place continued to be a dependency
of the latter city. (Paus. viii. 27. § 4; Plut. Cleom. 4; Polyb. ii. 54.) In the
wars of the Achaean league, the Belminatis was a constant source of contention
between the Spartans and Achaeans. Under Machanidas or Nabis, the tyrants of Sparta,
the Belminatis was again annexed to Laconia; but upon the subjugation of Sparta
by Philopoemen in B.C. 188, the Belminatis was once more annexed to the territory
of Megalopolis. (Liv. xxxviii. 34.) The Belminatis is a mountainous district,
in which the Eurotas takes its rise from many springs. (Strab. l. c.; Paus. iii.
21. § 3.) The mountains of Belemina, now called Tzimbaru, rise to the height of
4108 feet. Belemina is said by Pausanias to have been 100 stadia from Pellana,
and is plated by Leake on the summit of Mount Khelmos, upon which there are Hellenic
remains.
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ΒΟΥΦΑΣΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Bouphagion. A town of Arcadia, in the district Cynuria, situated near the sources
of the river Buphagus (Bouphagos), a tributary of the Alpheius, which formed the
boundary between the territories of Heraea and Megalopolis. It is placed by Leake
at Papadha, and by Boblaye, near Zula-Sarakini.
ΒΡΕΝΘΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Brenthe: Brenthaios, Brenthieus, a town of Arcadia in the district Cynuria, near the right bank of the river Alpheius, and on a small tributary called Brentheates (Brentheates), only 5 stadia in length. It corresponds to the modern Karitena.
ΓΑΘΕΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Gatheai: Eth. Gatheates. A town of Arcadia in the district Cromitis, situated
upon the river Gatheatas (Gatheatas), which rose near the place, and which, after
receiving the Carnion (Kapnion), rising in the territory of Aegys, flowed into
the Alpheius. Gatheae is placed by the best modern authorities at Kyradhes.
ΓΛΥΠΠΙΑ (Αρχαία κωμόπολη) ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟΝ
Glyppia or Glumpia (Gluppia, Paus. iii. 22. § 8), a village of Laconia, situated
near the frontiers of Argolis. Glyppia is the name in Pausanias, who simply describes
it as situated in the interior above Marius. It appears to be the same place as
the fortress called Glumpeis by Polybius, who places it near the borders of the
Argeia and Laconia, and who relates that the Messenians were defeated here in
B.C. 218 by the Spartans, when they; were endeavouring, by a round--about march
from Tegea, to penetrate into the southern valley of the Eurotas. (Polyb. v. 20.)
It is also mentioned on another occasion by Polybius (iv. 36). The ancient town
is probably represented by the Hellenic remains at Lympiada, which is probably
a corruption of the ancient name. The district south of Lympiada is called Olympo-khoria,
which name would seem to indicate that, one of the mountains in the neighbourhood
bore the name of Olympus in ancient times. Leake indeed conjectures that Glumpia
was the ancient local form of Olumpia, and consequently that Lympiada and Olympo-khoria
may both originate in the same ancient name Olympia having the local form of Glympia.
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ΓΟΡΤΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
Gortys or Gortyna (Gortus, Gortuna), a town of Arcadia in the district Cynuria,
situated near the river Gortynius (Gortunios), also called Lusius (Lousios) nearer
its sources, which was a tributary of the Alpheius, and was remarkable for the
coldness of its waters. The town is said to have been founded by Gortys, a son
of Stymphalus, and is described by Pausanias as a village in his time, though
it had formerly been a considerable city. Most of its inhabitants were removed
to Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter city in B.C. 371; but it must
have continued to be a place of some importance, since Polybius says that it was
taken by Euripidas, the general of the Eleians, in the Social War, B.C. 219. At
that time it was subject to Thelpusa. It contained a celebrated temple of Asclepius,
built of Pentelic marble, and containing statues of Asclepius and Hygieia by Scopas.
Cicero alludes to this temple, when he says (de Nat. Deer. iii. 22) that near
the river Lusius was the sepulchre of one of the Aeculapii, of whom he reckoned
three. Its ruins are seen upon a height near the village of Atzikolo. There are
still remains of its principal gate and of its walls, consisting of polygonal
masonry.
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ΔΑΣΕΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Daseai: Eth. Daseates. A town of Arcadia in the district Parrhasia,
on the road from Megalopolis to Phigalea, 7 stadia from Macareae, and 29 stadia
from Megalopolis. It was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, as its inhabitants
had been removed to Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter. Its name was
apparently derived from the thick woods, the remains of which still cover the
heights of Deli Hassani, near which Daseae must have stood.
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ΔΙΠΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ
Dipaia: Eth. Dipaieus. A town of Arcadia in the district Maenalia,
through whose territory the river Helisson flowed. Its inhabitants removed to
Megalopolis on the foundation of the latter city. It is frequently mentioned on
account of a battle fought in its neighbourhood between the Lacedaemonians and
all the Arcadians except the Mantineians, sometime between B.C. 479 and 464 (Paus.
iii. 11. § 7, viii. 8. § 6, 27. § 3, 30. §. 1, 45. § 2; Herod. ix. 35.) Leake
supposes that the ruins near Davia represent Dipaea; but since Pausanias does
not mention Dipaea in his description of Maenalia, although he notices every insignificant
place, Ross remarks that it is improbable that Pausanias should have passed over
Dipaea, if these ruins really belong to the latter, since they are still very
considerable. Ross regards them as the remains of Maenalus.
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ΕΛΙΣΣΩΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ
Helisson (Paus.); Helissous, (Diod.). a town of Arcadia in the district
Maenalia, situated on Mt. Maenalus near the territory of Mantineia. The town was
taken by the Lacedaemonians in one of their wars with the Arcadians, B.C. 352;
but most of its inhabitants had been previously removed to Megalopolis upon the
foundation of the latter city in 371. Near it rose the liver Helisson, which flowed
through Maenalia into the Alpheius. The site of Helisson is doubtful. Leake places
it at the village Alonistena, from which the river takes its modern name, and
near which it rises; but as there are no ancient remains at this village, Ross
conjectures that its site is represented by the Paleokastron near the village
Piana, lower down the mountain. (Paus. viii. 3. § 3, 27. § § 3, 7, 30. § 1; Diod.
xvi. 39.) The Elisphasii mentioned by Polybius (xi. 11. § 6) are conjectured by
some modern writers to be a corrupt form of Helissontii.
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ΕΝΙΣΠΗ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΥΤΙΝΑ
An Arcadian town mentioned by Homer, in the Catalogue of Ships, along with Rhipe
and Stratia. It was impossible even in antiquity to determine the position of
these towns, and Pausanias treats as absurd the opinion of those who considered
them to be islands in the river Ladon.
ΕΥΤΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΣΚΥΡΙΤΙΔΑ
Eutaea (Eutaia: Eth. Eutaieus), a town in the S. of Arcadia, in the district Maenalia, probably between Asea and Pallantium, though not on the road between these towns. Leake places it at Barbitza. (Paus. viii. 27. § 3; Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 12; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Morea, vol. iii. p. 31.)
ΗΡΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
Heraea (Heraia: Eth. Heraieus, Heraeus, in an ancient inscription ErWaoios: the territory
Heraiatis), the most important Arcadian town on the Lower Alpheius, was situated
near the frontiers of Elis, and on the high road from Arcadia to Olympia. It is
said to have been founded by Heraeeus, a son of Lycaon, and to have been called
originally Sologorgus (Paus. viii. 26. § 1; Steph. B. s. v. Heraia). At an early
period the Heraeans concluded a treaty with the Eleians for mutual protection
and support for one hundred years; the original of which treaty, engraven on a
bronze tablet in the old Peloponnesian dialect, was brought from Olympia by Gell,
and is now in the Payne Knight collection in the British Museum. This treaty is
placed about the 50th Olympiad, or B.C. 580, since it belongs to a time when the
Eleians exercised an undisputed supremacy over the dependent districts of Pisatis
and Triphylia; and the Heraeans consequently were anxious to avail themselves
of their support. Heraea was, at that time, the chief village among eight others
which lay scattered upon the banks of the Alpheius and its tributaries the Ladon
and Erymanthus; but the inhabitants of these separate villages were transferred
to Heraea, and a city there was founded by the Spartan king Cleombrotus or Cleonymus.
(Strab. viii. p. 337.) In consequence of their close connection with Sparta, the
Heraeans incurred the hostility of the other Arcadians, who laid waste their territory
in B.C. 370. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 22) At a later time Heraea was a member of the
Achaean League; and, as Elis was one of the chief places of the Aetolian League,
it is frequently mentioned in the contests between these two powers. (Polyb. ii.
54, iv. 77, seq.) It was afterwards in the hands of Philip, but it was restored
to the Achaeans. (Liv. xxviii. 8, xxxii. 5, xxxiii. 34; Polyb. xviii. 25, 30.)
Heraea is mentioned by Strabo (viii. p. 388) as one of the deserted cities of
Arcadia; but when it was visited by Pausanias, it was still a place of some importance.
The latter writer describes its temples, baths, plantations of myrtles and other
trees along the banks of the Alpheius: among its temples he mentions two sacred
to Dionysus, one to Pan, and another to Hera, of the latter of which only some
ruins were left. (Paus. viii. 26. § § 1, 2.)
The site of Heraea is fixed by its distance from the mouth of the Ladon, which,
according to Pausanias, was 15 stadia. The same writer says that the greater part
of the city lay upon a gently sloping hill, and the remainder upon the banks of
the Alpheius. The remains of Heraea are visible on a hill west of the village
of Aianni (St. John), bounded on either side by a ravine, and sloping down towards
the river. These ruins extend along the summit of the hill and the slope towards
the river; but they are inconsiderable, and have for the most part been cleared
away in consequence of the fertility of the land. A sweetish red wine is grown
upon the spot, which Leake says has more flavour and body than almost any other
he met with in the Morea. This wine was also celebrated in antiquity, and was
said to make women fruitful. (Theophr. H. Pl. ix. 20; Athen. i. p. 31; Plin. xiv.
18. s.22; Aelian, V. H. xiii. 6.)
Heraea was favourably situated in several respects. Its territory was fertile,
and it was situated, as we have already said, on the high road from Olympia into
the interior of Arcadia. From the north of Arcadia a road led into the valley
of the Alpheius, near Heraea; and two roads led into the Hereatis, one from Megalopolis,
and the other from Messene and Phigalia, which joined the former close to the
town. There was a bridge over the Alpheius close to Heraea, which Philip restored
in B.C. 219. (Polyb. iv. 77, 78.) The Heraeatis was separated from Pisatis by
the river Erymanthus, and from the territory of Megalopolis by the river Buphagus.
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Heraea (Heraia: Eth. Heraieus, Heraeus, in an ancient inscription
ErWaoios: the territory Heraiatis), the most important Arcadian town on the Lower
Alpheius, was situated near the frontiers of Elis, and on the high road from Arcadia
to Olympia. It is said to have been founded by Heraeeus, a son of Lycaon, and
to have been called originally Sologorgus. (Paus. viii. 26. § 1; Steph. B. s.
v. Heraia) At an early period the Heraeans concluded a treaty with the Eleians
for mutual protection and support for one hundred years; the original of which
treaty, engraven on a bronze tablet in the old Peloponnesian dialect, was brought
from Olympia by Gell, and is now in the Payne Knight collection in the British
Museum. This treaty is placed about the 50th Olympiad, or B.C. 580, since it belongs
to a time when the Eleians exercised an undisputed supremacy over the dependent
districts of Pisatis and Triphylia; and the Heraeans consequently were anxious
to avail themselves of their support. Heraea was, at that time, the chief village
among eight others which lay scattered upon the banks of the Alpheius and its
tributaries the Ladon and Erymanthus; but the inhabitants of these separate villages
were transferred to Heraea, and a city there was founded by the Spartan king Cleombrotus
or Cleonymus. (Strab. viii. p. 337.) In consequence of their close connection
with Sparta, the Heraeans incurred the hostility of the other Arcadians, who laid
waste their territory in B.C. 370. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 22) At a later time Heraea
was a member of the Achaean League; and, as Elis was one of the chief places of
the Aetolian League, it is frequently mentioned in the contests between these
two powers. (Polyb. ii. 54, iv. 77, seq.) It was afterwards in the hands of Philip,
but it was restored to the Achaeans. (Liv. xxviii. 8, xxxii. 5, xxxiii. 34; Polyb.
xviii. 25, 30.) Heraea is mentioned by Strabo (viii. p. 388) as one of the deserted
cities of Arcadia; but when it was visited by Pausanias, it was still a place
of some importance. The latter writer describes its temples, baths, plantations
of myrtles and other trees along the banks of the Alpheius: among its temples
he mentions two sacred to Dionysus, one to Pan, and another to Hera, of the latter
of which only some ruins were left. (Paus. viii. 26. § § 1, 2.)
The site of Heraea is fixed by its distance from the mouth of the
Ladon, which, according to Pausanias, was 15 stadia. The same writer says that
the greater part of the city lay upon a gently sloping hill, and the remainder
upon the banks of the Alpheius. The remains of Heraea are visible on a hill west
of the village of Aianni (St. John), bounded on either side by a ravine, and sloping
down towards the river. These ruins extend along the summit of the hill and the
slope towards the river; but they are inconsiderable, and have for the most part
been cleared away in consequence of the fertility of the land. A sweetish red
wine is grown upon the spot, which Leake says has more flavour and body than almost
any other he met with in the Morea. This wine was also celebrated in antiquity,
and was said to make women fruitful. (Theophr. H. Pl. ix. 20; Athen. i. p. 31;
Plin. xiv. 18. s.22; Aelian, V. H. xiii. 6.)
Heraea was favourably situated in several respects. Its territory
was fertile, and it was situated, as we have already said, on the high road from
Olympia into the interior of Arcadia. From the north of Arcadia a road led into
the valley of the Alpheius, near Heraea; and two roads led into the Hereatis,
one from Megalopolis, and the other from Messene and Phigalia, which joined the
former close to the town. There was a bridge over the Alpheius close to Heraea,
which Philip restored in B.C. 219. (Polyb. iv. 77, 78.) The Heraeatis was separated
from Pisatis by the river Erymanthus, and from the territory of Megalopolis by
the river Buphagus. (Gell, Itiner. of the Morea, p. 113; Leake, Morea, vol. ii.
p. 91; Boblaye, Recherches, &c. p. 159; Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. i. p. 363,
seq.)
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ΘΕΙΣΟΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΗΜΗΤΣΑΝΑ
At the time of the foundation of Megalopolis, we find the Orchomenians exercising supremacy over Theisoa, Methydrium, and Teuthis; but the inhabitants of these cities were then transferred to Megalopolis, and their territories assigned to the latter.
ΘΕΛΠΟΥΣΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΟΠΑΙΑ
Thelpusa (Thelpousa, Telphousa: Eth. Thelpousios, Telphousios), a town in the
west of Arcadia, situated upon the left or eastern bank of the river Ladon. Its
territory was bounded on the north by that of Psophis, on the south by that of
Heraea, on the west by the Eleia and Tisatis, and on the east by that of Cleitor,
Tripolis, and Theisoa. The town is said to have derived its name from a nymph,
the daughter of the river Ladon, which nymph was probably the stream flowing through
the lower part of the town into the Ladon. It is first mentioned in history in
B.C. 352, when the Lacedaemonians were defeated in its nieghbourhood by the Spartans.
(Diod. xvi. 39.) In B.C. 222 it was taken by Antigonus Doson, in the war against
Cleomenes, and it is also mentioned in the campaigns of Philip. (Polyb. ii. 54,
iv. 60, 73, 77; Steph. B. s. v. Telphousa; Plin. iv. 6. s. 20.) Its coins show
that it belonged to the Achaean League. (Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 206.) When
Pausanias visited Thelpusa, the city was nearly deserted, so that the agora, which
was formerly in the centre of the city, then stood at its extremity. He saw a
temple of Asclepius, and another of the twelve gods, of which the latter was nearly
levelled with the ground. (Paus. viii. 25 § 3.) Pausanias also mentions two temples
of some celebrity in the neighbourhood of Thelpusa, one above and the other below
the city. The one above was the temple of Demeter Eleusinia, containing statues
of Demeter, Persephone and Dionysus, made of stone, and which probably stood at
the castle opposite to Spathari (viii. 25. § § 2, 3). The temple below the city
was also sacred to Demeter, whom the Thelpusians called Erinnys. This temple is
alluded to by Lycophron (1038) and Callimachus (Fr. 107). It was situated at a
place called Onceium, where Oncus, the son of Apollo, is said once to have reigned
(viii. 25. § 4, seq.; Steph. B. s. v. Onkeion). Below this temple stood the temple
of Apollo Oncaeates, on the left bank of the Ladon, and on the right bank that
of the boy Asclepius, with the sepulchre of Trygon, said to have been the nurse
of Asclepius (viii. 25. § 11). The ruins of Thelpusa stand upon the slope of a
considerable hill near the village of Vanena (Banena). There are only few traces
of the walls of the city. At the ruined church of St. John, near the rivulet,
are some Hellenic foundations and fragments of columns. The saint is probably
the successor of Asclepius, whose temple, as we learn from Pausanias, stood longest
in the city. There are likewise the remains of a Roman building, about 12 yards
long and 6 wide, with the ruins of an arched roof. There are also near the Ladon
some Hellenic foundations, and the lower parts of six columns. Below Vanena there
stands upon the right bank of the Ladon the ruined church of St. Athanasius the
Miraculous, where Leake found the remains of several columns. Half a mile below
this church is the village of Tumbiki, where a promontory projects into the river,
upon which there is a mound apparently artificial. This mound is probably the
tomb of Trygon, and Tumbiki is the site of the the temple of Asclepius. Pausanias,
in describing the route from Psophis to Thelpusa, after mentioning the boundaries
between the territories of the two states, first crosses the river Arsen, and
then, at the distance of 25 stadia, arrives at the ruins of a village Caus and
a temple of Asclepius Causius, erected upon the roadside. From this plaee the
distance to Thelpusa was 40 stadia.
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ΘΥΡΑΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΙΚΟΛΩΝΕΣ
Thyraeum (Thuraion: Eth. Thuraios), a town of Arcadia in the district Cynuria, said to have been founded by Thyraeus, a son of Lycaon. It is placed by Leake at Palamari.
ΘΩΚΝΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Thoknia, Thokneia: Eth. Thokneus. A town of Arcadia in the district
Parrhasia, situated upon a height on the river Aminius, which flows into the Helisson,
a tributary of the Alpheius. The town was said to have been founded by Thocnus,
the son of Lycaon, and was deserted in the time of Pausanias, as its inhabitants
had been removed to Megalopolis. It is placed by Leake in the position of Vromosela.
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ΚΑΦΥΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΒΙΔΙ
Kaphuai: Eth. Kaphuates, Kaphueus. A town of Arcadia situated in a
small plain, NW. of the lake of Orchomenus. It was protected against inundations
from this lake by a mound or dyke, raised by the inhabitants of Caphyae. The city
is said to have been founded by Cepheus, the son of Aleus, and pretended to be
of Athenian origin. (Paus. viii. 23. § 2; Strab. xiii.) Caphyae subsequently belonged
to the Achaean league, and was one of the cities of the league, of which Cleomenes
obtained possession. (Pol. ii. 52.) In its neighbourhood a great battle was fought
in B.C. 220, in which the Aetolians, gained a decisive victory over the Achaeans
and Aratus. (Pol. iv. 11, seq.) The name of Caphyae also occurs in the subsequent
events of this war. (Pol. iv. 68, 70.) Strabo (viii. p. 388) speaks of the town
as in ruins in his time; but it still contained some temples when visited by Pausanias.
The remains of the walls of Caphyae are visible upon a small insulated height
at the village of Khotussa, which stands near the edge of the lake. Polybius,
in his description of the battle of Caphyae, refers to a plain in front of Caphyae,
traversed by a river, beyond which were trenches (taphroi), a description of the
place which does not correspond with present appearances. The taphroi were evidently
ditches for the purpose of draining the marshy plain, by conducting the water
towards the katavothra, around which there was, probably, a small lake. In the
time of Pausanias we find that the lake covered the greater part of the plain;
and that exactly in the situation in which Polybius describes the ditches, there
was a mound of earth. Nothing is more probable than that during the four centuries
so fatal to the prosperity of Greece, which elapsed between the battle of Caphyae
and the visit of Pausanias, a diminution of population should have caused a neglect
of the drainage which had formerly ensured the cultivation of the whole plain,
and that in the time of the Roman empire an embankment of earth had been thrown
up to preserve the part nearest to Caphyae, leaving the rest uncultivated and
marshy. At present, if there are remains of the embankment, which I did not perceive,
it does not prevent any of the land from being submerged during several months,
for the water now extends very nearly to the site of Caphyae.
Pausanias says that on the inner side of the embankment there flows
a river, which, descending into a chasm of the earth, issues again at a place
called Nasi (Nasoi); and that the name of the village where it issues is named
Rheunus (Hpeunos). From this place it forms the perennial river Tragus (Tragos).
He also speaks of a mountain in the neighbourhood of the city named Cnacalus (Knakalos),
on which the inhabitants celebrate a yearly festival to Artemis Cnacalesia. Leake
remarks that the mountain above Khotussa, now called Kastania, seems to be the
ancient Cnacalus. The river Tara is probably the ancient Tragus.
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ΚΡΩΜΟΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑ
Cromnus, Kromoi, Kromnos, Kromna. A town of Arcadia on the frontiers
of Messenia, the inhabitants of which were removed to Megalopolis, on the foundation
of the latter city in B.C. 371. Its territory is called Cromitis (Kromitis) by
Pausanias. It is placed by Boblaye at Neockhorio, but by Leake at Samara, a little
westward of Londari, since the latter writer conceives it to have been on the
route leading from Megalopolis to Carnasium, and not on the one leading to Messene.
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ΚΥΝΟΥΡΙΑ (Επαρχία) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
Cynuria (Eth. Kunourios, Kunoureus), a district on the eastern coast
of Peloponnesus, between the Argeia and Laconia, so called from the Cynurians,
one of the most ancient tribes in the peninsula. Herodotus (viii. 73) regards
them as Autochthones, but at the same time calls them Ionians. There can be little
doubt, however, that they were Pelasgians; but in consequence of their maritime
position, they were regarded as a different race from the Arcadian Pelasgians,
and came to be looked upon as Ionians, which was the case with the Pelasgians
dwelling upon the coast of the Corinthian gulf, in the district afterwards called
Achaia. They were a semi-barbarous and predatory tribe, dwelling chiefly in the
eastern slopes of Mount Parnon; but their exact boundaries cannot be defined,
as they were only a tribe, and never formed a political body. At a later time
they were almost confined to the Thyreatis, or district of Thyrea. (See below.)
Originally they extended much further south. Upon the conquest of Peloponnesus
by the Dorians, the Cynurians were subdued by the Argeians, whose territory at
one time extended along the eastern coast of Peloponnesus down to Cape Malea.
(Herod. i. 82.) The Cynurians were now reduced to the condition of Argive Perioeci.
(Herod. viii. 73.) They continued the subjects of Argos for some time; but as
Sparta rose in power, she endeavoured to increase her territory at the expense
of Argos; and Cynuria, but more especially the fertile district of the Thyreatis,
was a frequent subject of contention between the two states, and was in possession
sometimes of the one, and sometimes of the other power. As early as the reign
of Echestratus, the son of Agis, who is placed about B.C. 1000, the Spartans are
said to have gained possession of Cynuria (Paus. iii. 2. § 2), but they were driven
out of it subsequently, and it continued in the hands of the Argives till about
B.C. 547, when the celebrated battle was fought between the 300 champions from
either nation. (Herod. i. 82: for details see Diet. of Biogr. art. Othryades.)
But the great victory of Cleomenes over the Argives near Tiryns, shortly before
the Persian wars, was the event which secured to the Spartans undisputed possession
of Cynuria for a long time. When the Aeginetans were expelled from their own island
by the Athenians, at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war (B.C. 431), the
Spartans allowed them to settle in the Thyreatis, which at that time contained
two towns, Thyrea and Anthene or Athene, both of which were made over to the fugitives.
(Thuc. ii. 27; comp. v. 41.) Here they maintained themselves till the 8th year
of the Peloponnesian war, when the Athenians made a descent upon the coast of
the Thyreatis, where they found the Aeginetans engaged in building a fortress
upon the sea. This was forthwith abandoned by the latter, who took refuge in the
upper city (he ano polis) at the distance of 10 stadia from the sea; but the Athenians
followed them, took Thyrea, which they destroyed, and dragged away the inhabitants
into slavery. (Thuc. iv. 56, 57.) Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, gave
back the Thyreatis to the Argives, and extended their territory along the coast
as far as Glympeis and Zarax. It continued to belong to the Argives in the time
of Pausanias (ii. 38. § 5); but even then the ancient boundary quarrels between
the Argives and Spartans still continued (Paus. vii. 11. § 1).
The Thyreatis (Thnreatis), or territory of Thyrea (Thurea, also Thureai),
which is the only district that can be safely assigned to Cynuria, is one of the
most fertile plains in the Peloponnesus. It extends about 6 miles in length along
the coast, south of the pass Anigraea and the mountain Zavitza. Its breadth is
narrow, as the projecting spurs of Mount Parnon are never more than 3 miles, and
sometimes only about a mile from the coast. It is watered by two streams; one
on its northern, and the other on its southern extremity. The former called Tanus
or Tanaus (Tanos, Paus. ii. 38. § 7; Tanaos, Eurip. Electr. 413), now the river
of Luku, rises in the summits of Mt. Parnon near St. Peter, and falls into the
sea, at present north of Astros, but till recently south of the latter place.
It formed the boundary between the.Argeia and Laconia in the time of Euripides,
who accordingly represents it as the boundary between the two states in the heroic
age. The stream, which waters the southern extremity of the plain, is smaller
than the Tanos; it also rises in Mt. Parnon, and falls into the sea near St. Andrew.
It is now sometimes called the river of Kani, from one of the summits of Parnon;
sometimes, the river of St. Andrew: it appears in ancient times to have borne
the name of Charadrus, which is described by Statius (Theb. iv. 46), as flowing
in a long valley near Neris. Between these two rivers, at the nartowest part of
the plain, is a salt marsh called Mustos, formed by some salt-springs rising at
the foot of the calcareous mountains. The bay between the two rivers was called
the Thyreatic gulf (ho Thureates kolpos, Paus. ii. 38. § 7).
Besides Thyrea and Anthena or Athena, mentioned by Thucydides, two
other place in the Thyreatis are noticed by Pausanias (ii. 38. § 5, seq.), namely,
Neris and Eva (Eua). Pausanias entered the Thyreatis by the pass of the Anigraea;
and after following the road along the coast, turned upwards into the interior,
and came to Thyrea (ionti ano pros ten epeiron Thurea chorion estin), where he
saw the sepulchres of the 300 Argive, and 300 Spartan champions. On leaving these,
he came first to Anthena, next to Neris, and lastly to Eva, which he describes
as the largest of the three villages, containing a sanctuary of Polemocrates,
son of Machaon, who was honoured here as a god or hero of the healing art. Above
these villages was the range of Mt. Parnon, where, not far from the sources of
the Tanaus, the boundaries of the Lacedaemonians, Argives, and Tegeatae joined,
and were marked by stone Hermae.
Neris is also mentioned by Statius (Theb. iv. 46), who describes it
as situated in a long valley: Quaeque pavet longa spumantem valle Charadrum Neris.
Eva, in the Thyreatis, is probably also meant by Stephanus B., though he calls
it a city of Arcadia.
The identification of these places has given rise to much dispute,
and cannot be satisfactorily determined; for although there are several ancient
remains in the Thyreatis, no inscriptions have been found, containing the names
of places, and none of the ruins are in such positions as at once to identify
them with the ancient towns. There are two roads in the Thyreatis; one along the
coast leading from the pass of the Anigraea, and the other across the mountains.
Upon the coast-road we find ancient remains at three places.
(1.) Astros is now the chief place in the district, where persons land coming
from Nauplia by sea. The present town, however, is of recent date, having been
built during the War of Independence,and has become of importance in consequence
of the second national assembly of the Greeks having, met here in 1823. It is
situated on the southern side of a promontory, which projects some distance into
the sea, about 10 minutes south of the mouth of the Tanus. Although the town is
of modern origin, it is supposed that the place has retained its name from antiquity,
and that it is the Astrum (Astron) of Ptolemy, in whose list it occurs as the
frontier town of Argolis, between the Lacedaemonian Prasiae and the mouths of
the Inachus. (Ptol. iii. 16. § 11.) On the land side of the promontory towards
the river, are considerable remains of an ancient wall, built of large unhewn
blocks of stone, the interstices between which are filled up with smaller stories;
like the well known walls of Tiryns. On the other sides of the hill there are
no traces of walls, nor are there any other remains of an ancient town.
(2.) About half an hour S. of Astros, to the right hand of the road, there were
formerly Hellenic remains, which have now entirely disappeared.
(3.) Further south, at St. Andrew, on the coast, and immediately south of the
river of Kani, at the very edge of the plain, are the remains of an ancient town.
The foundations of the walls, about 9 feet in breadth, may still be traced, as
well as the foundations of towers. Within the walls the highest point, on which
the church of St. Andrew now stands, was the acropolis.
Upon the road across the mountains there are likewise remains of three
ancient places.
(1.) In crossing Mount Zavitza, we find upon the descent on the southern side
the ruins of a fortress, which commanded the road from the Argeia to. the Thyreatis.
(2.) Further on, at the foot of Zavitza, close to the river Tanus and the monastery
of Luku, considerable remains of ancient art have been discovered. The Museum
of Athens possesses a fine Caryatid figure, and two striking bas-reliefs, brought
from this place. The ancient remains at Luku are far more considerable than any
other which have been discovered in the Thyreatis.
(3.) From the monastery of Luku the road goes towards Mt. Parnon, over the heights
which extend between the two rivers of the Thyreatis. To the left of this road
are the ruins of an ancient fortress, situated upon a lofty rock, and known in
the country by the name of Helleniko.
The great difficulty is to identify Thyrea with any of these sites.
Leake and Ross suppose that the wall at Astros is the one commenced by the Aeginetans,
in the eighth year of the Peloponnesian war, and which they were prevented from
finishing by the arrival of the Athenians. They further believe that the ruins
at Luku are those of Thyrea; though, instead of being only 10 stadia from the
sea, as Thucydides states, they are more than three times that distance. Curtius,
on the other hand, thinks that the remains at St. Andrew represent Thyrea, and
that Pausanias came to this point before he turned into the interior. He observes
that the wall at Astros belongs to a much more ancient period than the time of
the Peloponnesian war, and that the remains at Luku do not exhibit traces of a
town, and are more characteristic of a Roman villa than of an Hellenic city. But
to the hypothesis of Curtius the words of Thucydides and Pausanias seem fatal,--the
former describing Thyrea as the upper city at the distance of 10 stadia from the
sea; and the latter, as situated in the interior of the country. Supposing Luku
to represent Thyrea, the ruins at St. Andrew must be those of a city not mentioned
by any ancient writer. It is evident from the route of Pausanias, that they cannot
represent either Anthena, Neris, or Eva. Leake, indeed, supposes them to be those
of the Lacedaemonian Brasiae or Prasiae, chiefly on the ground of the order of
names in Ptolemy; but the city at St. Andrew, being in the plain of the Thyreatis,
must clearly have belonged to the latter district; and Prasiae ought probably
to be placed further south at Tyro.
The position of Thyrea being so uncertain, it would be useless to
endeavour to fix the site of the other ancient places in the Thyreatis.
On the heights of Mt. Parnon, in the north-eastern extremity of the
ancient Laconia, is a district now called Tzakonia, the inhabitants of which speak
a peculiar dialect, which more closely resembles the ancient Greek than any of
the other dialects spoken in modern Greece. Their principal town is Kastanitza.
Their name is evidently a corruption of Laconia; but Thiersch conjectures with
some probability, that they are the descendants of the ancient Cynurians, and
have retained with the tenacity of mountaineers the language of their forefathers.
A full account of the Tzakonic dialect has been given by Thiersch (Abhandlung.
der Bayr. Akad. vol. i. p. 511, seq.), an abstract of which will be found in Leake's
Peloponnesiaca (p. 304, seq.).
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ΛΑΔΟΚΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
ta Ladokeia. A place in Arcadia, in the district Maenalia, and, after
the building of Megalopolis, a suburb of that city, was situated upon the road
from the latter to Pallantium and Tegea. Here a battle was fought between the
Mantineians and Tegeatae, B.C. 423, and between the Achaeans and Cleomenes, B.C.
226. Thucydides calls it Laodicium (Laodikion) in Oresthis.
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ΛΕΥΚΤΡΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Leuctrum (ta Leuktra, to Leuktron). Fortress of the district Aegytis,
on the confines of Arcadia and Laconia, described by Thucydides (v. 54) as on
the confines of Laconia towards Mt. Lycaeus, and by Xenophon (Hell. vi. 5. § 24).
It was originally an Arcadian town, but was included in the territory of Laconia.
(Thuc. l. c.) It commanded one of the passes leading into Laconia, by which a
portion of the Theban army penetrated into the country on their first invasion
under Epaminondas. (Xen. l. c.) It was detached from Sparta by Epaminondas, and
added to the territory of Megalopolis. (Paus. viii. 27. § 4.) It appears to have
stood on the direct road from Sparta to Megalopolis, either at or near Leondari,
in which position it was originally placed by Leake; and this seems more probable
than the site subsequently assigned to it by the same writer, who supposes that
both Leuctra and Malea were on the route from Megalopolis to Carnasium.
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ΛΥΚΑΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
...There was another Lycoa
not far from the Alpheius, near its junction with the Lusius or Gortynius, at
the foot of Mt. Lycaeus.It has been conjectured that the proper name of the latter
of these towns was Lycaea, since Pausanias (viii. 27. § 4) speaks of the Lycaeatae
(Lukaiatai) as a people in the district of Cynuria, and Stephanus mentions a town
Lycaea (Lukaia). (Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 304.)
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ΛΥΚΟΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ
Lycoa: (Lukoa: Eth. Lukoates), a town of Arcadia in the district Maenalia, at
the foot of Mt. Maenalus, with a temple of Artemis Lycoatis. It was in ruins in
the time of Pausanias, and is represented by the Paleokastron between Arachova
and Karteroli. There was another Lycoa not far from the Alpheius, near its junction
with the Lusius or Gortynius, at the foot of Mt. Lycaeus.It has been conjectured
that the proper name of the latter of these towns was Lycaea,
since Pausanias (viii. 27. § 4) speaks of the Lycaeatae (Lukaiatai) as a people
in the district of Cynuria, and Stephanus mentions a town Lycaea (Lukaia). (Leake,
Morea, vol. ii. p. 304.)
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ΜΑΙΝΑΛΟΝ (Βουνό) ΛΕΒΙΔΙ
Maenalus. (Mainalos, Strab. viii. p. 388; Schol. ad Apoll. Rhod. i. 769; Mainalon,
Theocr. i. 123; to Mainalion oros, Paus. viii. 36. § 7; Maenalus, Virg. Ecl. viii.
22; Mel. ii. 3; Plin. iv. 6. s. 10; Maenala, pl., Virg. Ecl. x. 55; Ov. Met. i.
216), a lofty mountain of Arcadia, forming the western boundary of the territories
of Mantineia and Tegea. It was especially sacred to the god Pan, who is hence
called Maenalius Deus (Ov. Fast. iv. 650.) The inhabitants of the mountain fancied
that they had frequently heard the god playing on his pipe. The two highest summits
of the mountain are called at present Aidin and Apano-Khrepa: the latter is 5115
feet high. The mountain is at present covered with pines and firs; the chief pass
through it is near the modern town of Tripolitza. The Roman poets frequently use
the adjectives Maenalius and Maenalis as equivalent to Arcadian. Hence Maenalii
versus, shepherds' songs, such as were usual in Arcadia (Virg. Ecl. viii.21);
Maenalis ora, i.e. Arcadia (Ov. Fast. iii. 84); Maenalisnympha, i. e. Carmenta
(Ov. Fast. i. 634); Maenalis Ursa, and Maenalia Arctos, the constellation of the
Bear, into which Callisto, daughter of Lycaon, king of Arcadia, was said to have
been metamorphosed. (Ov. Trist. iii. 11. 8, Fast. ii. 192.)
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ΜΑΙΝΑΛΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ
Mainalos: Eth. Mainalios, Mainalites, Mainaleus. A town of Arcadia,
and the capital of the district Maenalia (Mainalia), which formed part of the
territory of Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter city. The town Maenalus
was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, who mentions a temple of Athena, a stadium,
and a hippodrome, as belonging to the place. (Paus. viii. 3. § 4, 36. § 8; Steph.
B. s. v.) Its site is uncertain. Ross supposes that the remains of polygonal walls
on the isolated hill, on the right bank of the river Helisson and opposite the
village Davia, represent Maenalus; and this appears more probable than the opinion
of Leake, who identifies this site with Dipaea, and thinks that Maenalus stood
on Mt. Apano-khrepa. (Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes vol. i., Leake, Morea, vol. ii.,
Peloponnesiaca.)
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ΜΑΚΑΡΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
Makareai: Eth. Makarhieus. A town of Arcadia, in the district Parrhasia, 22 stadia
from Megalopolis, on the road to Phigaleia, and 2 stadia from the Alpheius. It
was in ruins in the time of Pausanias, as its inhabitants had been removed to
Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter.
ΜΑΛΕΑ (Αρχαία κωμόπολη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΙΣ
Malea, a town in the district of Aegytis in Arcadia, the inhabitants of which were transferred to Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter city. (Paus. viii. 27. § 4.) Its territory was called the Maleatis (he Maleatis). Xenophon describes Leuctra as a fortress situated above the Maleatis; and as Leuctra was probably at or near Leondari, Malea must have been in the same neighbourhood. Leake, however, connecting Malea with the river Malus (Malous, Paus. viii. 35. § 1), a tributary of the Alpheius, places the town on this river, and on the road from Megalopolis to Carnasium (Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 248); but this is not probable. The place Midea mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. vii. 1. § 28) is probably a corrupt form of Malea. (Curtius, Peloponnesos, vol. i. p. 336.)
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ΜΑΝΤΙΝΕΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
(Mantineia: Eth. Mantineus, Mantinensis: Paleopoli), one of the most ancient and
powerful towns in Arcadia, situated on the borders of Argolis, S. of Orchomenus,
and N. of Tegea. Its territory was called Mantinice (Mantinike). The city is mentioned
in the Homeric catalogue as Mantinee erateine, and, according to tradition, it
derived its name from Mantineus, a son of Lycaon. (Hom. Il. ii. 607; Pol. ii.
56; Paus. viii. 8. § 4.) Mantineia originally consisted of four or five distinct
villages, the inhabitants of which were collected into one city. (Xen. Hell. v.
2. 6, seq.; Strab. viii. p. 337; Diod. xv. 5.) If Strabo is correct in stating
that this incorporation was brought about by the Argives, we may conjecture, with
Mr. Grote, that the latter adopted this proceeding as a means of providing some
check upon their powerful neighbours of Tegea. The political constitution of Mantineia
is mentioned by Polybius as one of the best in antiquity; and the city had acquired
so great a reputation at an early period, that the Cyrenaeans, in the reign of
Battus III. (B.C. 550--530), when weakened by internal seditions, were recommended
to apply to the Mantineians, who sent to them Demonax to settle their constitution.
(Pol. vi. 43; Herod. iv. 161.) Some time before the Persian wars, Mantineia, like
the other Arcadian towns, had acknowledged the Spartan supremacy; and accordingly
the Mantineians fought against the Persians as the allies of Sparta. Five hundred
of their citizens fought at Thermopylae, but their contingent arrived on the field
of Plataea immediately after the battle. (Herod. vii. 202, ix. 77.) In the Peloponnesian
War, Mantineia was at first a member of the Peloponnesian confederacy; but several
causes tended to estrange her from the Spartan alliance. Mantineia and Tegea were,
at this time, the two most important Arcadian states, and were frequently engaged
in hostilities. In B.C. 423, they fought a bloody and indecisive battle, which
is mentioned by Thucydides (iv. 134). Tegea, being oligarchically governed, was
firmly attached to Sparta; whereas Mantineia, from her possessing a democratical
constitution, as well as from her hatred to Tegea, was disposed to desert Sparta
on the first favourable opportunity. In addition to this, the Mantineians had
recently extended their dominion over the Parrhasians and had garrisoned a fortress
at Cypsela, near the site where Megalopolis was afterwards built. Well aware that
the Lacedaemonians would not allow them to retain their recent acquisitions, as
it was the policy of Sparta to prevent the increase of any political power in
the Peloponnesus, the Mantineians formed an alliance with Argos, Elis, and Athens,
in B.C. 421, and thus became involved in war with Sparta. (Thuc. v. 29, 33, 47.)
This war was brought to a close by the decisive battle fought near Mantineia,
in June, 418, in which the Argives, Mantineians, and Athenians were defeated by
the Lacedaemonians under Agis. This battle was fought to the S. of Mantineia,
between the city and the frontiers of Tegea, and is the first of the five great
battles bearing the name of Mantineia. The Mantineians now concluded a peace with
Sparta, renouncing their dominion over the districts in Arcadia, which they had
conquered. (Thuc. v. 65, seq., 81.)
Mantineia continued an unwilling ally of Sparta for the next 33 years;
but in the second year after the peace of Antalcidas, which had restored to the
Spartans a great part of their former power, they resolved to crush for ever this
obnoxious city. Accordingly, they required the Mantineians to raze their walls;
and upon the refusal of the latter, they marched against the city with an army
under the command of their king Agesipolis (B.C. 385), alleging that the truce
for 30 years had expired, which had been concluded between the two states after
the battle of 418. The Mantineians were defeated in battle, and took refuge in
their city, prepared to withstand a siege; but Agesipolis having raised an embankment
across the river Ophis, which flowed through Mantineia, forced back the waters
of the river, and thus caused an inundation around the walls of the city. These
walls, being built of unbaked bricks, soon began to give way; and the Mantineians,
fearing that the city would be taken by assault, were obliged to yield to the
terms of the Spartans, who required that the inhabitants should quit the city,
and be dispersed among the villages, from the coalescence of which the city had
been originally formed. (Xen. Hell. v. 2. 6, 7; Diod. xv. 5; Ephorus, ap. Harpocrat.
s. v. Mantineon dioikismos; Pol. iv. 27; Paus. viii. 8. § 7, seq.) Of the forces
of Mantineia shortly before this time we have an account from the orator Lysias,
who says that the military population or citizens of Mantineia were not less than
3000, which will give 13,000 for the free population of the Mantineian territory.
(Lysias, ap. Dionys. p. 531; Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 416.)
The Mantineians did not long remain in this dispersed condition. When
the Spartan supremacy was overthrown by the battle of Leuctra in 371, they again
assembled together, and rebuilt their city. They took care to exclude the river
from the new city, and to make the stone substructions of the walls higher than
they had been previously. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 3; Paus. viii. 8. § 10; Leake, Morea,
vol. iii. p. 73.) The Mantineians took an active part in the formation of the
Arcadian confederacy, and in the foundation of Megalopolis, which followed immediately
after the restoration of their own city; and one of their own citizens, Lycomedes,
was the chief promoter of the scheme. But a few years afterwards the Mantineians,
for reasons which are not distinctly mentioned, quarrelled with the supreme Arcadian
government, and formed an alliance with their inveterate enemies the Spartans.
In order to put down this new coalition, Epaminondas marched into the Peloponnesus;
and Mantineia was again the scene of another great battle (the second of the five
alluded to above), in which the Spartans were defeated, but which was rendered
still more memorable by the death of Epaminondas. (Xen. Hell. vii. 5; Diod. xv.
84.) The site of this battle is described below. The third and fourth battles
of Mantineia are only incidentally mentioned by the ancient writers: the third
was fought in 295, when Demetrius Poliorcetes defeated Archidamus and the Spartans
(Plut. Demetr. 35) ; the fourth in 242, when Aratus and the Achaeans defeated
the Spartans under Agis, the latter falling in the battle. (Paus. viii. 10. §
5, seq.)
Mantineia continued to be one of the most powerful towns of Arcadia
down to the time of the Achaean League. It at first joined this league; but it
subsequently deserted it, and, together with Orchomenus and Tegea, became a member
of the Aetolian confederacy. These three cities at a later time renounced their
alliance with the Aetolians, and entered into a close union with Sparta, about
B.C. 228. This step was the immediate cause of the war between the Achaeans and
the Spartans, usually called the Cleomenic War. In 226, Aratus surprised Mantineia,
and compelled the city to receive an Achaean garrison. The Mantineians soon afterwards
expelled the Achaeans, and again joined the Spartans ; but the city was taken
a second time, in 222, by Antigonus Doson, whom the Achaeans had invited to their
assistance. It was now treated with great severity. It was abandoned to plunder,
its citizens were sold as slaves, and its name changed to Antigoneia (Antigoneia),
in compliment to the Macedonian monarch (Pol. ii. 57, seq.; Plut. Arat. 45; Paus.
viii. 8. § 11). In 207, the plain of Mantineia was the scene of a fifth great
battle, between the Achaean forces, commanded by Philopoemen, and the Lacedaemonians,
under the tyrant Machanidas, in which the latter was defeated and slain. An account
of this battle is given by Polybius, from whom we learn that the Achaean army
occupied the entire breadth of the plain S. of the city, and that their light-armed
troops occupied the hill to the E. of the city called Alesium by Pausanias. The
Lacedaemonians were drawn up opposite to the Achaeans ; and the two armies thus
occupied the same position as in the first battle of Mantineia, fought in the
Peloponnesian War. (Pol. xi. 11.)
The Mantineians were the only Arcadian people who fought on the side
of Augustus at the battle of Actium. (Paus. viii. 8. § 12.) The city continued
to bear the name of Antigoneia till the time of Hadrian, who restored to it its
ancient appellation, and conferred upon it other marks of his favour, in honour
of his favourite, Antinous, because the Bithynians, to whom Antinous belonged,
claimed descent from the Mantineians. (Paus. viii. 8. § 12, viii. 9. § 7.)
The territory of Mantineia was bounded on the W. by Mt. Maenalus, and on the E.
by Mt. Artemisium, which separated it from Argolis. Its northern frontier was
a low narrow ridge, separating it from Orchomenia ; its southern frontier, which
divided it from Tegeatis, was formed by a narrow part of the valley, hemmed in
by a projecting ridge from Mt. Maenalus on the one side, and by a similar ridge
from Mt. Artemisius on the other. The territory of Mantineia forms part of the
plain now called the plain of Tripolitza, from the modern town of this name, lying
between the ancient Mantineia and Tegea, and which is the principal place in the
district. This plain is about 25 English miles in length, with a breadth varying
from 1 to 8, and includes, besides the territory of Mantineia, that of Orchomenus
and Caphyae on the N., and that of Tegea and Pallantium on the S. The distance
between Mantineia and Tegea is about 10 English miles in a direct line. The height
of the plain where Mantineia stood is 2067 feet above the level of the sea. Owing
to its situation, Mantineia was a place of great military importance, and its
territory was the scene of many important battles, as has been already related.
It stood upon the river Ophis, nearly in the centre of the plain of Tripolitza
as to length, and in one of the narrowest parts as to breadth. It was enclosed
between two ranges of hills, on the E. and the W., running parallel to Mts. Artemisium
and Maenalus respectively. The eastern hill was called Alesium (Alesion, Paus.
viii. 10. § 1), and between it and Artemisium lay the plain called by Pausanias
(viii. 7. § 1) to argon pedion, or the Uncultivated Plain. (viii. 8. § 1.) The
range of hills on the W. had no distinct name: between them and Mt. Maenalus there
was also a plain called Alcimedon (Alkimedon, Paus. viii. 12. § 2.)
Mantineia was not only situated entirely in the plain, but nearly
in its lowest part, as appears by the course of the waters. In the regularity
of its fortifications it differs from almost all other Greek cities of which there
are remains, since very few other Greek cities stood so completely in a plain.
It is now called Paleopoli. The circuit of the walls is entire, with the exception
of a small space on the N. and W. sides. In no place are there more than three
courses of masonry existing above ground, and the height is so uniform that we
may conclude that the remainder of the walls was constructed of unbaked bricks.
The city had 9 or 10 gates, the approach to which was carefully defended. Along
the walls there were towers at regular distances. Leake reckoned 118 towers, and
says that the city was about 21 miles in circumference ; but Ross makes the city
considerably larger, giving 129 or 130 as the number of the towers, and from 28
to 30 stadia, or about 3 1/2 English miles, as the circuit of the city. The walls
of the city are surrounded by a ditch, through which the river Ophis flows. This
stream is composed of several rivulets, of which the most important rises on Mt.
Alesium, on the E. side of the city: the different rivulets unite on the NW. side
of the town, and flow westward into a katavothra. Before the capture of Mantineia
by Agesipolis, the Ophis was made to flow through the city and it is probable
that all the water-courses of the surrounding plain were then collected into one
channel above the city. Of the buildings in the interior of the city, described
by Pausanias, few remains are left. Nearly in the centre of the city are the ruins
of the theatre, of which the diameter was about 2440 feet; and west of the theatre,
Ross observed the foundations of the temple of Aphrodite Symmachia, which the
Mantineians erected to commemorate the share they had taken in the battle of Actium.
(Paus. viii. 9. § 6.)
The territory of Mantineia is frequently described by the ancient
writers, from its having been so often the seat of war; but it is difficult, and
almost impossible, to identify any of the localities of which we find mention,
from the disappearance of the sanctuaries and monuments by which spots are indicated,
and also from the nature of the plain, the topography of which must have been
frequently altered by the change of the water-courses. On the latter subject a
few words are necessary. The plain of Tripolitza, of which Mantinice formed part,
is one of those valleys in Arcadia, which is so completely shut in by mountains,
that the streams which flow into it have no outlet except through the chasms in
the mountains, called katavothra. The part of the plain, which formed the territory
of Mantineia, is so complete a level, that there is not, in some parts, a sufficient
slope to carry off the waters ; and the land would be overflowed, unless trenches
were made to assist the course of the waters towards some one or other of the
katavothra which nature has provided for their discharge. (Pol. xi. 11.) Not only
must the direction of these trenches have been sometimes changed, but even the
course of the streams was sometimes altered, of which we have an interesting example
in the history of the campaign of 418. It appears that the regulation of the mountain
torrent on the frontiers of Mantinice and Tegeatis was a frequent subject of dispute
and even of war between the two states; and the one frequently inundated the territory
of the other, as a means of annoyance. This was done in 418 by Agis, who let the
waters over the plain of Mantineia (Thuc. v. 65). This river can only be the one
called Ophis by the Geographers of the French Commission. It rises a little N.
of Tegea, and after flowing through Tegeatis falls now into a katavothra north
of the hill Scope. In general the whole plain of Mantineia bears a very different
aspect from what it presented in antiquity; instead of the wood of oaks and cork-trees,
described by Pausanias, there is now not a single tree to be found; and no poet
would now think of giving the epithet of lovely (erateine) to the naked plain,
covered to a great extent with stagnant water, and shut in by gray treeless rocks.
(Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, p. 128.)
About a mile N. of the ruins of Mantineia is an isolated hill called
Gurtzuli; north of which again, also at the distance of about a mile, is another
hill. The latter was probably the site of the ancient Mantineia, arid was therefore
called Ptolis in the time of Pausanias (viii. 12. § 7). This appears to have been
one of the five villages from the inhabitants of which the city on the plain was
peopled.
There were several roads leading from Mantineia. Two of these roads
led north of the city to Orchomenus: the more easterly of the two passed by Ptolis,
just mentioned, the fountain of Alalcomeneia, and a deserted village named Maera
(Maira), 30 stadia from Ptolis ; the road on the west passed over Mt. Anchisia,
on the northern slope of which was the temple of Artemis Hymnia, which formed
the boundary between Mantinice and Orchomenia. (Paus. viii. 12. §§ 5--9, comp.
viii. 5. § 11.)
A road led from Mantineia on the W. to Methydrium. It passed through
the plain Alcimedon, which was 30 stadia from the city, above which was Mount
Ostracina; then by the fountain Cissa, and, at the distance of 40 stadia from
the fountain, by the small place Petrosaka, which was on the confines of the Mantineian
and Megalopolitan territories. (Paus. viii. 12. §§ 2--4.)
Two roads led from Mantineia southwards,--the one SE. to Tegea, and
the other SW. to Pallantium. On the left of the road to Tegea, called Xenis by
Polybius (xi. 11, § 5), just outside the gates of Mantineia, was the hippodrome,
and a little further on the stadium, above which rose Mount Alesium: at the spot
where the mountain ceased was the temple of Poseidon Hippius, which was 7 stadia
from the city, as we learn from Polybius (xi. 11. § 4, compared with xi. 14. §
1). Here commenced the ditch, which is said by Polybius to have led across the
Mantineian plain to the mountains bordering upon the district of the Elisphasii
(he ton Elisphasion Chora Pol. xi. 11. § 6, comp. 15. § 7, xvii. 6). Beyond the
temple of Poseidon was a forest of oaks, called Pelagus (Pelagos), through which
ran the road to Tegea. On turning out of the road to the left, at the temple of
Poseidon, one found at the distance of 5 stadia the tombs of the daughters of
Pelias. Twenty stadia further on was a place called Phoezon (Phoizon). This was
the narrowest part of the plain between Tegea and Mantineia, the road being shortened
by the hill Scope on the W. and a similar projecting rock on the E. Here was the
tomb of Areithous, who was said to have been slain in a narrow pass by Lycurgus
(steinopoi en hodoi, Hom. Il. vii. 143). 2 This narrow valley, shut in by the
two projecting ridges already mentioned, formed the natural frontier between the
territories of Mantineia and Tegea. The boundary between the two states was marked
by a round altar on the road, which was about four miles distant from Mantineia,
and about six miles from Tegea. It was here that the Lacedaemonian army was posted,
over which Epaminondas gained his memorable victory. He had marched from Tegea
in a north-westerly direction, probably passing near the site of the modern Tripolitza,
and then keeping along the side of Mt. Maenalus. He attacked the enemy on their
right flank, near the projecting ridge of Mt. Maenalus, already described. It
was called Scope (Skope, now Myrtikas), because Epaminondas, after receiving his
mortal wound, was carried to this height to view the battle. Here he expired,
and his tomb, which Pausanias saw, was erected on the spot. (Paus. viii. 11. §§
6, 7)
The road from Mantineia to Pallantium ran almost parallel to the road
to Tegea till it reached the frontiers of Tegeatis. At the distance of one stadium
was the temple of Zeus Charmon. (Paus. viii. 10, 11, 12. § 1.)
Two roads led from Mantineia eastwards to Argos, called Prinus (Prinos) and Climax
(Klimaxi), or the Ladder, respectively. (Paus. viii. 6. § 4.) The latter was so
called from the steps cut out of the rock in a part of the road; and the Prinus
probably derived its name from passing by a large holm-oak (prinos), or a small
wood of holm-oaks; but the roads do not appear to have borne these names till
they entered Mantinice. There are only two passes through the mountains, which
separate the Argive plain from Mantinice, of which the southern and the shorter
one is along the course of the river Charadrus, the northern and the longer one
along the valley of the Inachus. Both Ross and Leake agree in making the Prinus
the southern and the Climax the northern of these two roads, contrary to the conclusions
of the French surveyors. Both roads quitted Argos at the same gate, at the hill
called Deiras, but then immediately parted in different directions. The Prinus
after crossing the Charadrus, passed by Oenoe, and then ascended Mount Artemisium
(Malevos), on the summit of which, by the road-side, stood the temple of Artemis,
and near it were the sources of the Inachus. Here were the boundaries of Mantinice
and Argolis. (Paus. ii. 25. §§ 1--3.) On descending this mountain the road entered
Mantinice, first crossing through the lowest and most marshy part of the Argon,
or Uncultivated Plain, so called because the waters from the mountains collect
in the plain and render it unfit for cultivation, although there is a katavothra
to carry them off. On the left of the plain were the remains of the camp of Philip,
son of Amyntas, and a village called Nestane, probably now the modern village
of Tzipiana. Near this spot the waters of the plain entered the katavothra, and
are said not to have made their exit till they reached the sea off the coast of
the Argeia. Below Nestane was the Dancing-place of Maera (Choros Mairas), which
was only the southern arm of the Argon Plain, by means of which the latter was
connected with the great Mantineian plain. The road then crossed over the foot
of Mount Alesium, and entered the great Mantineian plain near the fountain Arne
at the distance of 12 stadia from the city. From thence it passed into the city
by the south-eastern or Tegeatan gate. (Paus. viii. 6. § 6--viii. 8. § 4.)
The other road, called Climax ran from Argos in a north-westerly direction
along the course of the Inachus, first 60 stadia to Lyrceia, and again 60 stadia
to Orneae, on the frontiers of Sicyonia and Phliasia. (Paus. ii.25. §§ 4--6.)
It then crossed the mountain, on the descent of which into Mantinice were the
steps cut out of the rock. The road entered Mantinice at the upper or northern
corner of the Argon Plain, near the modern village of Sanga. It then ran in a
south-westerly direction, along the western side of Mount Alesium, to a place
called Melangeia (ta Melangeia), from which drinking-water was conducted by an
aqueduct to Mantineia, of which remains were observed by Ross. It corresponds
to the modern village of Pikerni, which is said to signify in the Albanian language
abounding in springs. The road next passed by the fountain of the Meliastae (Meliastai),
where were temples of Dionysus and of Aphrodite Melaenis: this fountain was 7
stadia from the city, opposite Ptolis or Old Mantineia. (Paus. viii. 6. §§ 4,
5.)
This extract is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΜΑΡΑΘΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Maatha (Maratha), a village of Arcadia, in the district Cynuria, between
Buphagium and Gortys, perhaps represented by the ruin called the Castle of Leodhoro.
(Paus. viii. 28. § 1; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 66, Peloponnesiaca, p. 232.)
ΜΑΡΙΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟΝ
Marios. A town of Laconia, belonging in the time of Pausanias to the
Eleuthero-Lacones, was situated 100 stadia east of Geronthrae. It contained a
sanctuary of all the gods and, one of Artemis, and in each there were copious
springs of water. It is represented by Mari, which stands on the road from Gheraki
(Geronthrae) over the mountains to Kremasti; but, according to the French Commission,
its real distance from Geronthrae is from 75 to 80 stadia, and not 100, as is
stated by Pausanias. There are ruins of the ancient town about a mile and a half
to the south of the modern village, and the place is still characterised by its
abundant fountains.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
(he Megale polis or Megalopolis: Eth. Megalopolites: Sinanu).The Great
City, one of the most recent of the Grecian cities, and the later capital of Arcadia,
was founded in B.C. 370, a few months after the battle of Leuctra, and was finished
in the course of three years. (Paus. viii. 27. § 1; Diod. xv. 52, 62, 72.) Arcadia
had been previously divided into a number of independent political communities;
and it had always been the object of Sparta to maintain them in their isolated
condition, that she might the more easily exercise supremacy over them. But after
the fatal blow, which the Spartans had received at the battle of Leuctra, several
of the leading Arcadians, supported by Epaminondas, who was the soul of the undertaking,
resolved to found a new city, which should become the capital of an Arcadian confederation.
Ten oecists were appointed to carry this resolution into effect, of whom two were
from Tegea, two from Mantineia. two from Cleitor, two from the district of Maenalus,
and two from that of Parrhasia. The site, which they chose, was an extensive plain
upon the northwest frontier of Laconia; and the city was built upon the river
Helisson, a tributary of the Alpheius. Forty distinct Arcadian townships were
either persuaded or compelled to contribute their inhabitants to form the new
state. (Paus. viii. 27; Diod. xv. 94.) The inhabitants were furnished from seven
states: 10 from Maenalus, 8 from the Parrhasii, 3 from Orchomenus, 4 from Cynuria,
6 from Eutresis, 3 from Tripolis, and probably 6 (though Pausanias mentions the
names of only 5) from Aegytis. The city was 50 stadia (more than 5 miles and a
half) in circumference (Polyb. ix. 21); while the territory assigned to it was
more extensive than that of any other Arcadian state, extending northwards about
23 English miles from the city, being bounded on the east by the territories of
Tegea, Mantineia, Orchomenus. and Caphyae, and on the west by those of Messene,
Phigalia, and Heraea.
Megalopolis was the place of meeting of the Arcadian confederation
which was now formed. The council of the confederation was called the Ten Thousand
(hoi Murioi), and consisted of representatives of all the Arcadian states, except
Orchomenus and Heraea. The number must be regarded as an indefinite one; and it
is probable that all the citizens of the separate states had the right of attending
the meetings. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 6, vii. 1. § 38; Diod. xv. 59; Paus. viii. 32.
§ 1; Dem. de Fals. Leg. p. 344.) A body of troops, called Epariti (Eparitoi),
was raised for the service of the confederation; their number was 5000 (Xen. Hell.
vii. 4. 34, vii. 5. § 3; Diod. xi. 62, 67.) The new confederation succeeded for
a time in giving a certain degree of unity of sentiment and action to the Arcadians;
but its influence gradually declined; and the city of Megalopolis never attained
that importance which its founders had anticipated, and which had caused it to
be laid out on a scale too large for the the population collected within its walls.
(Polyb ii. 55.)
Upon the decline of the Theban power, the Spartans directed their
attacks against Megalopolis; but these were easily repelled; and upon the rise
of the Macedonian power the Megalopolitans formed a close alliance with Philip,
and subsequently with Alexander, as their best security against their formidable
neighbour. After the death of Alexander they continued faithful to the Macedonian
alliance, and refused to join the other Greeks against Antipater. In the contest
between Polysperchon and Cassander, Megalopolis espoused the side of the latter;
in consequence of which Polysperchon laid siege to the city in B.C. 318. It was,
however, bravely defended by its inhabitants, under an officer named Damis; and
though Polysperchon succeeded in making a breach in its walls, he was finally
repulsed with loss. (Diod. xviii. 70, 71.) We learn from Diodorus that the territory
of Megalopolis possessed at this time 15,000 men capable of bearing arms, which
implies a population of about 65,000 souls. After this time Megalopolis was governed
by tyrants, of whom the first was Aristodemus, a Phigalian by birth, who, on account
of his good qualities, was called Chrestos. During his reign the Spartans, under
their king Acrotatus, the son of Areus, and grandson of Cleonymus II., attacked
Megalopolis, but were defeated, and Acrotatus was slain. (Paus. viii. 27. § 11,
who erroneously calls Acrotatus the son of Cleonymus.) Two generations later Lydiades,
a native of Megalopolis, became tyrant of the city, but he voluntarily resigned
his power in B.C. 232, and united Megalopolis to the Achaean League. (Paus. viii.
27. § 12, seq.; Polyb. ii. 44.) In B.C. 222, Cleomenes III. surprised Megalopolis;
the greater part of the inhabitants succeeded in making their escape to Messene;
but, after plundering the city, he laid the greater part of it in ruins. (Paus.
viii. 27. § 15, seq.; Polyb. ii. 55; Plut. Philop. 5, Cleom. 25.) Soon after the
defeat of Cleomenes at the battle of Sellasia (B.C. 221), the Megalopolitans began
to rebuild their city; but a dispute arose among them respecting its size. One
party wished the compass of the walls to be contracted, that they might be the
more easily defended; and the other [p. 308] insisted upon preserving the former
dimensions of the city. The former party, through the mediation of Aratus, appear
to have prevailed, and the city was unfortunately rebuilt in its original magnitude.
(Polyb. v. 93.) The fortifications were sufficiently strong to resist the attack
of the tyrant Nabis (Plut. Philop. 13); but they were again suffered to fall into
decay; and even as soon as B.C. 175, we find that Antiochus IV. Epiphanes promised
the Megalopolitans to surround their city with a wall, and gave them the greater
part of the necessary money. (Liv. xli. 20.) Polybius remarks (ix. 21) that the
population of Megalopolis in his time was only the half of that of Sparta, although
it was two stadia greater in circumference. So much was it reduced, that a comic
poet, quoted by Strabo, described the Great City as a great desert (eremia megale
'stin e Megale polis, viii. p. 388). Accustomed as Pausanias was to the sight
of fallen cities, the ruined condition of Megalopolis appears to have particularly
impressed him, and gave rise to the reflections which he has inserted after his
description of the city (viii. 33). Megalopolis was the birthplace of Philopoemen,
and of the historian Polybius.
Megalopolis was situated in the middle of a plain, and, unlike the
generality of Grecian cities, possessed no height, which might be converted into
an acropolis. Mantineia, which was also rebuilt about the same time, was placed
in a level situation, instead of its old position upon a hill. A level situation
appears to have been chosen as more convenient for a large population than the
rocky heights upon which the old Greek cities were built; while the improvements
which had been made in the art of fortifying cities enabled their inhabitants
to dispense with natural defences. The city lay upon either bank of the Helisson,
which flowed through it from east to west, and divided it into nearly two equal
parts.
The Helisson flows into the Alpheius about 2 1/2 English miles from
the city. The southern half of the city was called Orestia, from an ancient settlement
of the Maenalians upon this spot. (Steph. B. s. v. Megale polis. The ruins of
Megalopolis are near the modern village of Sinanu; but almost all trace of the
walls has disappeared, because they were probably built, like those of Mantineia
(Xen. Hell. v. 2. 5; Paus. viii. 8. § 5), of unburnt bricks. Pausanias has given
a particular description of the public buildings (viii. 30--32), the site of some
of which may still be fixed by the existing remains. The two most important buildings
were the theatre, on the left or southern side of the river, and the Agora on
the right. The colossal remains of the theatre are conspicuous in the whole plain.
Several of the seats remain, and a part of the wall of the cavea. It is described
by Pausanias (viii. 32. § 1) as the greatest theatre in Greece, and was 480 feet
in diameter. Pausanias says that in the theatre there was a perennial fountain,
which Leake could not find, but which Ross noticed in the Orchestra; it is now
covered with rubbish, so that it is not visible, but in dry seasons it makes the
ground quite moist and slippery. On the eastern side of the theatre was the stadium,
the position of which is indicated in the shape of the ground near the river.
Here is a fountain of water, which Pausanias says was in the stadium, and was
sacred to Dionysus. On the eastern side of the stadium was a temple of Dionysus;
and below the stadium, towards the river, were a sanctuary of Aphrodite, and an
altar of Ares. Ross supposes a circular foundation close to the bank of the river
to be the altar of Ares, and a quadrangular foundation between this and the theatre
to be the temple of Aphrodite. East of the temple of Dionysus there is another
source of water, also mentioned by Pausanias, by which we can fix the position
of the temple of Asclepius the Boy; above which, on a gently sloping hill, was
a temple of Artemis Agrotera. West of the theatre was the Thersilium, named from
the person who built it, in which the Ten Thousand were accustomed to meet; and
near it was a house, built originally by the Megalopolitans for Alexander, the
son of Philip. In this same locality there were a few foundations of a temple
sacred to Apollo, Hermes, and the Muses.
Opposite the western end of the theatre there are, on both sides of
the river, but more especially on the northern bank, large masses of square stones.
These are probably the remains of the principal bridge over the Helisson, which
led from the theatre to the Agora on the northern side of the river. The Agora
was built on a magnificent scale, and extended along the river close to the western
walls of the city; since Pausanias, who entered Megalopolis upon this side, immediately
came upon the Agora. As Pausanias has given a fuller description of the Agora
of Megalopolis than of any other in Greece, the following restoration of it (taken
from Curtius) may be found useful in understanding the general form and arrangement
of such buildings.
In the centre of the Agora was an inclosure sacred to Zeus Lycaeus,
who was the tutelary deity of all Arcadia. It had no entrance; but the objects
it contained were exposed to public view; here were seen two altars of the god,
two tables, two eagles, and a statue in stone of Pan. Before the sacred inclosure
of Zeus there was a statue of Apollo in brass, 12 feet high, which was brought
from Bassae by the Phigalians, to adorn the new capital; it survived the destruction
of the city, and is represented on coins of Septimius Severus. This colossal statue
probably stood on the west side of the sanctuary of Zeus. To the right of the
colossal statue was the temple of the Mother of the Gods, of which [p. 309] only
the columns remained in the time of Pausanias.
On the northern side of the Agora lay the Stoa of Philip, the son
of Amyntas, which was named in honour of this king, on account of the services
he had rendered to Megalopolis. Near it were the remains of the temple of Hermes
Acacesius. Alongside of the Stoa of Philip, was another smaller Stoa, containing
the Archives (ta archeia), and consisting of six compartments. Behind the Stoa
of the Archives was a temple of Tyche (Fortune).
The Stoa called Myropolis, where the shops of the perfumers stood,
was probably on the eastern side of the Agora. It was built from the spoils of
the Lacedaemonians under Acrotatus, when they were defeated by Aristodemus. Between
it and the sanctuary of Zeus was the statue of Polybius. To the left of this statue
was the Bouleuterium, or Senate House. In the south of the Agora may be placed
the Stoa of Aristander, named after its founder. At the eastern end of this Stoa,
was a Peripteral Temple of Zeus Soter, containing a statue of the god seated between
the goddesses Megalopolis and Artemis Soteira. At the other, or western end of
the same Stoa, was the sacred inclosure of the Great Goddesses Demeter and Core
(Persephone), containing several temples. The Gymnasium stood on the western side
of the Agora.
To the north of the Agora, behind the Stoa of Philip, there were two
small heights, on one of which stood the ruins of the temple of Athena Polias,
and on the other those of Hera Teleia. The foundations of these temples are still
visible. At the foot of the temple of Hera Teleia was the stream Bathyllus, flowing
into the Helisson. Parallel to the Bathyllus is another stream; and the hill between
these two streams is, perhaps, the Scoleitas mentioned by Pausanias (viii. 31.
§ 7), who says that it lies within the walls, and that a stream descends from
it to the Helisson.
Some excavations were made on the site of Megalopolis by Ross in 1834,
but nothing of importance was found. Pausanias also gives a minute account of
the principal roads leading from Megalopolis.
Of these he mentions eight, leading respectively to Messene, Carnasium,
Sparta, Methydrium, Maenalus, Phigaleia, Tegea and Heraea.
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ΜΕΘΥΔΡΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΥΤΙΝΑ
Methydrium (Methudrion: Eth. Methudrieus), a town in central Arcadia, situate
170 stadia north of Megalopolis (Paus. viii. 35. § 5), obtained its name, like
Interamna, from being situated upon a lofty height between the two rivers Maloetas
and Mylaon. (Paus. viii. 36. § 1.) It was founded by Orchomenus; but its inhabitants
were removed to Megalopolis, upon the establishment of that city. It never recovered
its former population, and is mentioned by Strabo (viii. p. 388) among the places
of Arcadia which had almost entirely disappeared. It continued, however, to exist
as a village in the time of Pausanias, who saw there a temple of Poseidon Hippius
upon the river Mylaon. He also mentions, above the river Maloetas, a mountain
called Thaumasium, in which was a cave where Rhea took refuge when pregnant with
Zeus. At the distance of 30 stadia from Methydrium was a fountain named Nymphasia.
(Paus. viii. 36. § § 1--3, comp. viii. 12. § 2, 27. § § 4, 7.) Methydrium is also
mentioned in the following passages: Thuc. v. 58; Polyb. v, 10, 11, 13; Plin.
iv. 6. s. 10; Steph. B. s. v. There is some difficulty in determining the exact
site of Methydrium. Some writers identify it with the Hellenic remains called
Palatia; but these are not on a lofty hill between two rivers, but in a low situation
above the junction of the rivers on the right bank of one of them. Methydrium
should rather be placed 45 minutes further, at the distance of 10 miles SE. of
the village of Nimnitza, where there are some ancient ruins, one between two streams,
on a height below Pyryo, otherwise called Pyrgako. It is true that this also is
not a lofty hill; but Pausanias uses the expression kolonos hupselos, and hupselos
has reference to kolonos, which means only a slight elevation.
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Methudrion: Eth. Methudrieus. A town in central Arcadia, situated
170 stadia north of Megalopolis (Paus. viii. 35. § 5), obtained its name, like
Interamna, from being situated upon a lofty height between the two rivers Maloetas
and Mylaon. (Paus. viii. 36. § 1.) It was founded by Orchomenus; but its inhabitants
were removed to Megalopolis, upon the establishment of that city. It never recovered
its former population, and is mentioned by Strabo (viii. p. 388) among the places
of Arcadia which had almost entirely disappeared. It continued, however, to exist
as a village in the time of Pausanias, who saw there a temple of Poseidon Hippius
upon the river Mylaon. He also mentions, above the river Maloetas, a mountain
called Thaumasium, in which was a cave where Rhea took refuge when pregnant with
Zeus. At the distance of 30 stadia from Methydrium was a fountain named Nymphasia.
(Paus. viii. 36. § § 1 - 3, comp. viii. 12. § 2, 27. § § 4, 7.)
There is some difficulty in determining the exact site of Methydrium.
Some writers identify it with the Hellenic remains called Palatia; but these are
not on a lofty hill between two rivers, but in a low situation above the junction
of the rivers on the right bank of one of them. Methydrium should rather be placed
45 minutes further, at the distance of 10 miles SE. of the village of Nimnitza,
where there are some ancient ruins, one between two streams, on a height below
Pyryo, otherwise called Pyrgako. It is true that this also is not a lofty hill;
but Pausanias uses the expression kolonos hupselos, and hupselos has reference
to kolonos, which means only a slight elevation.
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ΜΕΛΑΙΝΕΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΗΡΑΙΑ
Melaineai, Melainai, Eth. Melaineus. A town of Arcadia, in the territory
of Heraea, and on the road from Heraea to Megalopolis. It was distant 40 stadia
from Buphagium. Pausanias says that it was founded by Melaeneus, the son of Lycaon,
but that it was deserted in his time and overflowed with water. The ruins of Melaeneae
lie 4 or 5 miles eastward of Heraea, between the villages Kokora and Kakoreos,
where are the remains of a Roman bath, which has also been a church, and is sometimes
used as such, though it is said to be generally inundated, even in the dry season,
which is in conformity with the account of Pausanias. The Peutinger Table specifies
Melaeneae as distant 12 miles from Olympia; but it does not mention Heraea, though
a much more important place, and one which continued to exist long after Heraea:
moreover, the distance of 12 miles applies to Heraea, and not to Melaeneae.
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ΟΓΚΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΟΠΑΙΑ
Onceium (Onkeion), a place in Arcadia upon the river Ladon, near Thelpusa, and
containing a temple of Demeter Erinnys. (Paus. viii. 25. § 4; Steph. B. s. v.)
The Ladon, after leaving this temple, passed that of Apollo Oncaeates on the left,
and that of the boy Asclepius on the right. (Paus. viii. 25. § 11.) The name is
derived by Pausanias from Oncus, a son of Apollo, who reigned at this place. Leake
supposes that Tumbiki, the only remarkable site on the right bank of the Ladon
between Thelpusa and the Tuthoa, is the site of the temple of Asclepius. (Morea,
vol. ii. p. 103.) Other writers mention a small town Oncae (Onkai) in Arcadia,
which is probably the same as Onceium.
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ΟΡΕΣΘΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΑΛΤΕΤΣΙ
Oresthasion, Orestheion, Oresteion. A town in the south of Arcadia,
in the district of Maenalia, a little to the right of the road, leading from Megalopolis
to Pallantium and Tegea. Its inhabitants were removed to Megalopolis on the foundation
of the latter city. Its territory is called Oresthis by Thucydides (iv. 134),
and in it was situated Ladoceia, which became a suburb of Megalopolis. (Ladokeia)
Leake places Oresthasium at or near the ridge of Tzimbaru, and conjectures that
it may have occupied the site of the village of Marmara or Marmaria, a name often
attached in Greece to places where ancient wrought or sculptured stones have been
found.
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ΟΡΧΟΜΕΝΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΒΙΔΙ
An ancient city of Arcadia, called by Thucydides (v. 61) the Arcadian
(ho Arkadikos), to distinguish it from the Boeotian town. It was situated in a
plain surrounded on every side by mountains. This plain was bounded on the S.
by a low range of hills, called Anchisia, which separated it from the territory
of Mantineia; on the N. by a lofty chain, called Oligyrtus, through which lie
the passes into the territories of Pheneus and Stymphalus; and on the E. and W.
by two parallel chains running from N. to S., which bore no specific name in antiquity:
the eastern range is in one part 5400 feet high, and the western about 4000 feet.
The plain is divided into two by hills projecting on either side from the eastern
and western ranges, and which approach so close as to allow space for only a narrow
ravine between them. The western hill, on account of its rough and rugged form,
was called Trachy (Trachu) in antiquity; upon the summit of the western mountain
stood the acropolis of Orchomenus. The northern plain is lower than the southern;
the waters of the latter run through the ravine between Mount Trachy and that
upon which Orchomenus stands into the northern plain, where, as there is no outlet
for the waters, they form a considerable lake. (Paus. viii. 13. § 4.)
The acropolis of Orchomenus, stood upon a lofty, steep, and insulated
hill, nearly 3000 feet high, resembling the strong fortress of the Messenian Ithome,
and, like the latter, commanding two plains. From its situation and its legendary
history, we may conclude that it was one of the most powerful cities of Arcadia
in early times. Pausanias relates that Orchomenus was founded by an eponymous
hero, the son of Lycaon (viii. 3. § 3); but there was a tradition that, on the
death of Areas, his dominions were divided among his three sons, of whom Elatus
obtained Orchomenus as his portion. (Schol. ad. Dionys. Per. 415.) The kings of
Orchomenus are said to have ruled over nearly all Arcadia. (Heraclid. Pont. ap.
Diog. Laert. i. 94.) Pausanias also gives a list of the kings of Orchomenus, whom
he represents at the same time as kings of Arcadia. One of these kings, Aristocrates,
the son of Aechmis, was stoned to death by his people for violating the virgin
priestess of Artemis Hymnia. Aristocrates was succeeded by his son Hicetas, and
Hicetas by his son Aristocrates II., who, having abandoned the Messenians at the
battle of the Trench in the second war against Sparta, experienced the fate of
his grandfather, being stoned to death by the Arcadians. He appears to have been
the last king of Orchomenus, who reigned over Arcadia, but his family was not
deprived of the kingdom of Orchomenus, as is stated in some authorities, since
we find his son Aristodemus represented as king of the city. (Paus. viii. 5; Polyb.
iv. 3; Heracl. Pont. l. c.) It would appear, indeed, that royalty continued to
exist at Orchomenus long after its abolition in most other Grecian cities, since
Theophilus related that Peisistratus, king of Orchomenus, was put to death by
the aristocracy in the Peloponnesian War. (Plut. Parall. 32.)
Orchomenus is mentioned by Homer, who gives it the epithet of polumelos
(Il. ii. 605); and it is also called ferax by Ovid (Met. vi. 416), and aphneos
by Apollonius Rhodius (iii. 512). In the Persian wars Orchomenus sent 120 men
to Thermopylae (Herod. viii. 102), and 600 to Plataeae (ix. 28). In the Peloponnesian
War, the Lacedaemonians deposited in Orchomenus the hostages they had taken from
the Arcadians; but the walls of the city were then in a dilapidated state; and
accordingly, when the Athenians and their Peloponnesian allies advanced against
the city in B.C. 418, the Orchomenians dared not offer resistance, and surrendered
the hostages. (Thuc. v. 61.) At the time of the foundation of Megalopolis, we
find the Orchomenians exercising supremacy over Theisoa, Methydrium, and Teuthis;
but the inhabitants of these cities were then transferred to Megalopolis, and
their territories assigned to the latter. (Paus.viii.27. §4.) The Orchomenians,
through their enmity to the Mantineians, refused to join the Arcadian confederacy,
and made war upon the Mantineians. (Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 11, seq.; Diod. xv. 62.)
Henceforth Orchomenus lost its political importance; but, from its commanding
situation, its possession was frequently an object of the belligerent powers in
later times. In the war between Cassander and Polysperchon, it fell into the power
of the former, B.C. 313. (Diod. xix. 63.) It subsequently espoused the side of
the Aetolians, was taken by Cleomenes (Polyb. ii. 46), and was afterwards retaken
by Antigonus Doson, who placed there a Macedonian garrison. (Polyb. ii. 54, iv.
6; Plut. Arat. 5.) It was given back by Philip to the Achaeans. (Liv. xxxii. 5.)
Strabo mentions it among the Arcadian cities, which had either disappeared, or
of which there were scarcely any traces left (viii. p. 338); but this appears
from Pausanias to have been an exaggeration. When this writer visited the place,
the old city upon the summit of the mountain was in ruins, and there were only
some vestiges of the agora and the town walls; but at the foot of the mountain
there was still an inhabited town. The upper town was probably deserted at a very
early period; for such is the natural strength of its position, that we can hardly
suppose that the Orchomenians were dwelling there in the Peloponnesian War, when
they were unable to resist an invading force. Pausanias mentions, as the most
remarkable objects in the place, a source of water, and temples of Poseidon and
Aphrodite, with statues of stone. Close to the city was a wooden statue of Artemis,
enclosed in a great cedar tree, and hence called Cedreatis. Below the city were
several heaps of stones, said to have been erected to some persons slain in battle.
(Paus. viii. 13.)
The village of Kalpaki stands on the site of the lower Orchomenus.
On approaching the place from the south the traveller sees, on his left, tumuli,
chiefly composed of collections of stones, as described by Pausanias. Just above
Kalpaki are several pieces of white marble columns, belonging to an ancient temple.
There are also some remains of a temple at a ruined church below the village,
near which is a copious fountain, which is evidently the one described by Pausanias.
On the summit of the hill are some remains of the walls of the more ancient Orchomenus.
In the territory of Orchomenus, but adjoining that of Mantineia, consequently
on the northern slope of Mt. Anchisia, was the temple of Artemis Hymnia, which
was held in high veneration by all the Arcadians in the most ancient times. (Paus.
viii. 5. § 11.) Its site is probably indicated by a chapel of the Virgin Mary,
which stands east of Levidhi.
In the southern plain is an ancient canal, which conducts the waters
from the surrounding mountains through the ravine into the lower or northern plain,
which is the other Orchomnenian plain of Pausanias (viii. 13. § 4). After passing
the ravine, at the distance of 3 stadia from Orchomenus, the road divides into
two. One turns to the left along the northern side of the Orchomenian acropolis
to Caphyae, the other crosses the torrent, and passes under Mt. Trachy to the
tomb of Aristocrates, beyond which are the fountains called Teneiae (Teneiai).
Seven stadia further is a place called Amilus (Amilos). Here, in ancient times,
the road divided into two, one leading to Stymphalus and the other to Pheneus.
(Paus. viii. 13. § 4, seq.) The above-mentioned fountains are visible just beyond
Trachy, and a little further are some Hellenic ruins, which are those of Amilus.
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ΠΑΛΛΑΝΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΙΠΟΛΗ
Pallantium, more rarely Palantion: Eth. Pallantieus. One of the most
ancient towns of Arcadia, in the district Maenalia, said to have been founded
by Pallas, a son of Lycaon, was situated W. of Tegea, in a small plain called
the Pallantic plain (Pallantikon pedion, Paus. viii. 44. § 5), which was separated
from the territory of Tegea by a choma (choma) or dyke. It was from this town
that Evander was said to have led colonists to the banks of the Tiber, and from
it the Palatium or Palatine Mount at Rome was reputed to have derived its name.
(Hes. ap. Steph. B. s. v.; Paus. viii. 43. § 2; Liv. i. 5; Plin. iv. 6; Justin,
xliii. 1.) Pallantium took part in the foundation of Megalopolis, B.C. 371 (Paus.
viii. 27. § 3); but it continued to exist as an independent state, since we find
the Pallantieis mentioned along with the Tegeatae, Megalopolitae and Aseatae,
as joining Epaminondas before the battle of Mantineia, B.C. 362. (Xen. Hell. vii.
5. 5) Pallantium subsequently sank into a mere village, but was restored and enlarged
by the emperor Antoninus Pius, who conferred upon it freedom from taxation and
other privileges, on account of its reputed connection with Rome. The town was
visited by Pausanias, who found here a shrine containing statues of Pallas and
Evander, a temple of Core (Proserpine), a statue of Polybius; and on the hill
above the town, which was anciently used as an acropolis, a temple of the pure
(katharoi) gods. (Paus. viii. 43. § 1, 44. § § 5, 6.) Leake was unable to find
the site of Pallantium, and supposed that it occupied a part of Tripolitza itself;
though at a later time he appears to have adopted the erroneous opinion of Gell,
who placed it at the village of Thana, to the S. of Triolitza. (Leake, Morea,
vol. i., vol. iii. p. 36 Gell, Itinerary of the Morea, p. 136.) The remains of
tie town were first discovered by the French expedition at a quarter of an hour's
distance from the Khan of Makri on the road from Tripolitza to Leondari. The ruins
have been used so long as a quarry by the inhabitants of Tripolitza and of the
neighbouring villages, that there are very few traces of the ancient town. Ross
discovered the foundations of the temple of the pure gods on the highest point
of the acropolis.
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ΠΑΡΡΑΣΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
...In Parrhasia (Parrhadike, Thuc. v. 33), a district on the Messenian frontier,
N. of Cromitis and Messenia, occupying the left bank of the plain of the Alpheius:
Macarae; Daseae; Acacesium; Lycosoura; Thocnia; Basilis; Cypsela; Bathos; Trapezus;
Acontitum and Proseis (Akontion, Proseis), both of uncertain site. (Paus. viii.
27. § 4.) The Parrhasii (Parrhasioi) are mentioned as one of the most ancient
of the Arcadian tribes. (Strab. p. 388; Steph. B. s. v. Azania.) During the Peloponnesian
war the Mantineians had extended their supremacy over the Parrhasii, but the latter
were restored to independence by the Lacedaemonians, B.C. 421. (Thuc. v. 33.)
Homer mentions a town Parrhasia, said to have been founded by Parrhasus, son of
Lycaon, or by Pelasgus, son of Arestor, which Leake conjectures to be the same
as Lycosura. (Hom. Il. ii. 608; Plin. iv. 10; Steph. B. s. v. Parrhasia.) The
Roman poets frequently us, the adjectives Parrhasius and Parrhasis as equivalent
to Arcadian. (Virg. Aen. viii. 344, xi. 31; Ov. Met. viii. 315.) Thus we find
Parrhasides stellae, i. e. Ursa major (Ov. Fast. iv. 577); Parrhasia dea, i. e.
Carmenta (Ov. Fast. i. 618); Parrhasia virgo, i. e. Callisto. (Ov. Trist. ii.
190.)...
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ΠΟΛΙΧΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟΝ
Polichna. A town of Laconia, mentioned only by Polybius (iv. 36), is placed by Leake in the interior of the country on the eastern slope of Mt. Parnon at Reonda (Ta Hpeonta), where, among the ruins of a fortified town of the lower empire, are some remains of Hellenic walls.
ΠΡΑΣΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΛΕΩΝΙΔΙΟΝ
Brasiae, Prasiai, Prasia, Brasiai, Eth. Brasiates, Prasieus. A town
on the eastern coast of Laconia, described by Pausanias as the farthest of the
Eleuthero-Laconian places on this part of the coast, and as distant 200 stadia
by sea from Cyphanta. (Paus. iii. 24. § 3.) Scylax speaks of it as a city and
a harbour. The name of the town was derived by the inhabitants from the noise
of the waves (Brazein). It was burnt by the Athenians in the second year of the
Peloponnesian War, B.C. 430. (Thuc. ii. 56; Aristoph. Pac. 242.) Also in B.C.
414 the Athenians, in conjunction with the Argives, ravaged the coast near Prasiae.
(Thuc. vi. 105.) In the Macedonian period Prasiae, with other Laconian towns on
this coast, passed into the hands of the Argives (Polyb. iv. 36); whence Strabo
calls it one of the Argive towns (viii. p. 368), though in another passage he
says that it belonged at an earlier period to the Lacedaemonians (viii. p. 374).
It was restored to Laconia by Augustus, who made it one of the Eleuthero-Laconian
towns. (Paus. iii. 21. § 7, iii. 24. § 3.) Among the curiosities of Prasiae Pausanias
mentions a cave where Ino nursed Dionysus; a temple of Asclepius and another of
Achilles, and a small promontory upon which stood four brazen figures not more
than a foot in height. (Paus. iii. 24. §§ 4, 5.) Leake places Prasiae at St. Andrew
in the Thyreatis; but it more probably stood at Tyro, which is the site assigned
to it by Boblaye, Ross, and Curtius.
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ΡΑΙΤΕΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Rhaeteae (Rhaiteai), a place in the Arcadian district of Cynuria, at the confluence of the Gortynius and Alpheius. (Pans. viii. 28. § 3.)
ΣΟΥΜΗΤΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ
Soumetia, Soumateion, Soumeteia . A town of Arcadia in the district Maenalia,
on the southern slope of Mt. Maenalus. It was probably on the summit of the hill
now called Sylimna, where there are some remains of polygonal walls.
the southern slope of Mt. Maenalus.
ΤΕΓΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
(Ion. Tegee: Eth. Tegeates). One of the most ancient and powerful
towns of Arcadia, situated in the SE. of the country. Its territory, called TEGEATIS
(Tegeatis), was bounded by Cynuria and Argolis on the E., from which it was separated
by Mt. Parthenium, by Laconia on the S., by the Arcadian district of Maenalia
on the W., and by the territory of Mantineia on the N. The Tegeatae are said to
have derived their name from Tegeates, a son of Lycaon, and to have dwelt originally
in eight, afterwards nine, demi or townships, the inhabitants of which were incorporated,
by Aleus in the city of Tegea, of which this hero was the reputed founder. The
names of these nine townships, which are preserved by Pausanias, are: Gareatae
(Gareatai), Phylaceis (Phulakeis), Caryatae (Karuatai), Corytheis (Korutheis),
Potachidae (Potachidai), Oeaatae (Oiatai); Manthyreis (manthureis), Echeuetheis
(Echeuethheis), to which Apheidantes (Apheidantes was added as the ninth in the
reign of king Apheidas. (Paus. viii. 3. § 4, viii. 45. § 1; Strab. viii. p. 337.)
The Tegeatae were early divided into 4 tribes (phulai), called respectively Clareotis
(Klareotis, in inscriptions Krariotis), Hippothoitis (Hippothoitis), Apolloneatis
(Apolloneatis), and Athoneatis (Athaneatis), to each of which belonged a certain
number of metoeci (metoikoi) or resident aliens. (Paus. viii. 53. § 6; Bockh,
Corp. lnscr. no. 1513.)
Tegea is mentioned in the Iliad (ii. 607), and was probably the most
celebrated of all the Arcadian towns in the earliest times. This appears from
its heroic renown, since its king Echemus is said to have slain Hyllus, the son
of Hercules, in single combat. (Herod. ix. 26; Paus. viii. 45. § 3.) The Tegeatae
offered a long-continued and successful resistance to the Spartans, when the latter
attempted to extend their dominion over Arcadia. In one of the wars between the
two people, Charilaus or Charillus, king of Sparta, deceived by an oracle which
appeared to promise victory to the Spartans, invaded Tegeatis, and was not only
defeated, but was taken prisoner with all his men who had survived the battle.
(Herod. i. 66; Paus. iii. 7. § 3, viii. 5. § 9, viii. 45. § 3, 47. § 2, 48. §
4.) More than two centuries afterwards, in the reign of Leon and Agesicles, the
Spartans again fought unsuccessfully against the Tegeatae; but in the following
generation, in the time of their king Anaxandrides, the Spartans, having obtained
possession of the bones of Orestes in accordance with an oracle, defeated the
Tegeatae and compelled them to acknowledge the supremacy of Sparta, about B.C.
560. (Herod. i. 65, 67, seq.; Paus. iii. 3. § 5, seq.) Tegea, however, still retained
its independence, though its military force was at the disposal of Sparta; and
in the Persian War it appears as the second military power in the Peloponnesus,
having the place of honour on the left wing of the allied army. Five hundred of
the Tegeatae fought at Thermopylae, and 3000 at the battle of Plataea, half of
their force consisting of hoplites and half of light-armed troops. (herod. vii.
202, ix. 26, seq., 61.) As it was not usual to send the whole force of a state
upon a distant march, we may probably estimate, with Clinton, the force of the
Tegeatae on this occasion as not more than three-fourths of their whole number.
This would give 4000 for the military population of Tegea, and about 17,400 for
the whole free population. (Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 417.)
Soon after the battle of Plataea, the Tegeatae were again at war with
the Spartans, of the causes of which, however, we have no information. We only
know that the Tegeatae fought twice against the Spartans between B.C. 479 and
464, and were each time defeated; first in conjunction with the Argives, and a
second time together with the other Arcadians, except the Mantineians at Dipaea,
in the Maenalian district. (Herod. ix. 37; Paus. iii. 11. § 7.) About this time,
and also at a subsequent period, Tegea, and especially the temple of Athena Alea
in the city, was a frequent place of refuge for persons who had rendered themselves
obnoxious to the Spartan government. Hither fled the seer Hegesistratus (Herod.
ix. 37) and the kings Leotychides, and Pausanias, son of Pleistoanax. (Herod.
vi. 72; Xen. Hell, iii. 5. 25; Paus. iii. 5. § 6.)
In the Peloponnesian War the Tegeatae were the firm allies of the
Spartans, to whom they remained faithful both on account of their possessing an
aristocratical constitution, and from their jealousy of the neighbouring democratical
city of Mantineia, with which they were frequently at war. Thus the Tegeatae not
only refused to join the Argives in the alliance formed against Sparta in B.C.
421, but they accompanied the Lacedaemonians in their expedition against Argos
in 418. (Thus. v. 32, 57.) They also fought on the side of the Spartans in the
Corinthian War, 394. (Xen. Hell. iv. 2. 13) After the battle of Leuctra, however
(371), the Spartan party in Tegea was expelled, and the city joined the other
Arcadian towns in the foundation of Megalopolis and in the formation of the Arcadian
confederacy. (Xen. hell. vi. 5. § 6, seq.) When Mantineia a few years afterwards
quarrelled with the supreme Arcadian government, and formed an alliance with its
old enemy Sparta, Tegea remained faithful to the new confederacy, and fought under
Epaminondas against the Spartans at the great battle of Mantineia, 362. (Xen.
Hell. vii. 4. 36, seq., vii. 5. § 5, seq.)
Tegea at a later period joined the Aetolian League, but soon after
the accession of Cleomenes III. to the Spartan throne it formed an alliance with
Sparta, together with Mantineia and Orchomenus. It thus became involved in hostilities
with the Achaeans, and in the war which followed, called the Cleomenic War, it
was taken by Antigonus Doson, the ally of the Achaeans, and annexed to the Achaean
League, B.C. 222. (Pol. ii. 46, 54, seq.) In 218 Tegea was attacked by Lycurgus,
the tyrant of Sparta, who obtained possession of the whole city with the exception
of the acropolis. It subsequently fell into the hands of Machanidas, but was recovered
by the Achaeans after the defeat of the latter tyrant, who was slain in battle
by Philopoemen. (Pol. v. 17, xi. 18.) In the time of Strabo Tegea was the only
one of the Arcadian towns which continued to be inhabited (Strab. viii. p. 388),
and it was still a place of importance in the time of Pausanias, who has given
us a minute account of its public buildings. (Paus. viii. 45 - 48, 53.) Tegea
was entirely destroyed by Alaric towards the end of the 4th century after Christ.
(Claud. B. Get. 576; comp. Zosim. v. 6.)
The territory of Tegea formed the southern part of the plain of Tripolitza...Tegea
was about 10 miles S. of the latter city, in a direct line, and about 3 miles
SE. of the modern town of Tripolitza. Being situated in the lowest part of the
plain, it was exposed to inundations caused by the waters flowing down from the
surrounding mountains; and in the course of ages the soil has been considerably
raised by the depositions brought down by the waters. Hence there are scarcely
any remains of the city visible, and its size can only be conjectured from the
broken pieces of stone and other fragments scattered on the plain, and from the
foundations of walls and buildings discovered by the peasants in working in the
fields. It appears, however, that the ancient city extended from the hill of Aio
Sostis (St. Saviour on the N., over the hamlets Ibrahim-Effendi and Paleo--Episkopi,
at least as far as Akhuria and Piali. This would make the city at least 4 miles
in circumference. The principal remains are at Piali. Near the principal church
of this village Leake found the foundations of an ancient building, of fine squared
stones, among which were two pieces of some large columns of marble; and there
can be little doubt that these are the remains of the ancient temple of Athena
Alea. This temple was said to have been originally built by Aleus, the founder
of Tegea; it was burnt down in B.C. 394, and the new building, which was erected
by Scopas, is said by Pausanias to have been the largest and most magnificent
temple in the Peloponnesus (Paus. viii. 45. §4, seq.) Pausanias entered the city
through the gate leading to Pallantium, consequently the south-western gate, which
must have been near Piali. He begins his description with the temple of Athena
Alea, and then goes across the great agora to the theatre, the remains of which
Ross traces in the ancient foundations of the ruined church of Paleo--Episkopi.
Perhaps this theatre was the splendid marble one built by Antiochus IV. Epiphanes
in B.C. 175. (Liv. xli. 20.) Pausanias ends his description with the mention of
a height (chorion hupselon, viii. 53. § 9), probably the hill Aio Sostis in the
N. of the town, and apparently the same as that which Pausanias elsewhere calls
the Watch-Hill (lophos Phulaktris, viii. 48. § 4), and Polybius the acropolis
(akra, v. 17). None of the other public buildings of Tegea mentioned by Paulsanias
can be identified with certainty; but there can be no doubt if excavations were
made on its site many interesting remains would be discovered, since the deep
alluvial soil is favourable to their preservation...
There were five roads leading from Tegea. One led due N. across the
Tegeatic plain to Mantineia. A second led due S. by the valley of the Alpheius
to Sparta, following the same route as the present road from Tripolitza to Mistra.
A third led west to Pallantium. It first passed by the small mountain Cresium
(Kresion), and then ran across the Manthyric plain along the side of the Taki.
Mount Cresium is probably the small isolated hill on which the modern village
of Vuno stands, and not the high mountain at the end of the plain, according to
the French map. Upon reaching the Choma (Choma), the road divided into two, one
road leading direct to Pallantium, and the other SW. to Megalopolis through Asea.
(Paus. viii. 44. § 1, seq.; Xen. Hell. vi. 5. 9, hai epi to Pallantion Pherousai
pulai. This choma separated the territories of Pallantium and Tegea, and extended
as far south as Mount Boreium (Krauori), where it touched the territory of Megalopolis.
There are still remains of this choma running NE. to SW. by the side of the marsh
of Taki. These remains consist of large blocks of stone, and must be regarded
as the foundations of the choma, which cannot have been a chaussee or causeway,
as the French geographers call it, since Choma always signifies in Greek writers
an artificial heap of earth, a tumulus, mound, or dyke. (Ross, p. 59.) A fourth
road led SE. from Tegea, by the sources of the Garates to Thyreatis. (Paus. viii.
54. § 4.) A fifth road led NE. to Hysiae and Argos, across the Corythic plain,
and then across Mt. Parthenium, where was a temple of Pan, erected on the spot
at which the god appeared to the courier Pheidippides. This road was practicable
for carriages, and was much frequented. (Paus. viii. 54. § 5, seq.; Herod. vi.
105, 106)
The Roman poets use the adjective Tegeeus or Tegeaeus as equivalent
to Arcadian: thus it is given as an epithet to Pan (Virg. Georg. i. 18), Callisto,
daughter of Lycaon (Ov. Ar. Am. ii. 55, Fast. ii. 167), Atalanta (Ov. Met. viii.
317, 380), Carmenta (Ov. Fast. i. 627), and Mercury (Stat. Silv. i. 54)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΤΕΥΘΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΔΗΜΗΤΣΑΝΑ
Teuthis: Eth. Teuthides, a town in the centre of Arcadia, which together with Theisoa and Methydrium belonged to the confederation (sunteleia) of Orchomenus. Its inhabitants were removed to Megalopolis upon the foundation of the latter. The Paleocastron of Galatas probably represents presents Teuthis.
ΤΡΑΠΕΖΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
Trapezus (Trapezous,-ountos: Eth. Trapezountios), a town of Arcadia,
in the district Parrhasia, a little to the left of the river Alpheius, is said
to have derived its name from its founder Trapezeus, the son of Lycaon, or from
trapeza (trapeza), a table, because Zeus here overturned the table on which Lycaon
offered him human food. (Paus. viii. 3. § § 2, 3; Apollod. iii. 8. § 1.) It was
the royal residence of Hippothous, who transferred the seat of government from
Tegea to Trapezus. On the foundation of Megalopolis, in B.C. 371, the inhabitants
of Trapezus refused to remove to the new city; and having thus incurred the anger
of the other Arcadians, they quitted Peloponnesus, and took refuge in Trapezus
on the Pontus Euxeinus, where they were received as a kindred people. The statues
of some of their gods were removed to Megalopolis, where they were seen by Pausanias.
Trapezus stood above the modern Mavria. (Paus. viii. 5. § 4, 27. § § 4-6, viii.
29. § 1, 31. § 5; Herod. vi. 127; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 292;
Ross, Reisen im Peloponnes, vol. i. p. 90.)
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited September 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΥΨΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΙΚΟΛΩΝΕΣ
Hypsus (Hupsous,--ountos), a town of Arcadia, in the district Cynuria, situated upon a mountain of the same name, said to have been founded by Hypsus, a son of Lycaon. It is placed by the French Commission at Stemnitza.
ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑ
Phalaeseae (Phalaisiai: Eth. Phalaisieus), a town of Arcadia, in the district Maleatis on the road from Megalopolis to Sparta, 20 stadia from the Hermaeum towards Belbina. Leake originally placed it near Gardhiki, but subsequently a little to the eastward of Bura, where Gell remarked some Hellenic remains among the ruins of the Buzeika Kalyvia. (Paus. viii. 35. § 3; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 298; Peloponnesiaca, p. 237.)
This is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΦΑΛΑΝΘΟΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
Phalanthum (Phalangon: Eth. Phalangios), a town and mountain of Arcadia, in the district Orchomenia, near Methydrium. (Paus. viii. 35. § 9; Steph. B. s. v.; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 240.)
ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ
A country in the middle of the Peloponnesus, surrounded on all
sides by mountains, the Switzerland of Greece. The Achelous, the greatest river
of the Peloponnesus, rises in Arcadia. The northern and eastern parts of the country
were barren and unproductive; the western and southern were more fertile, with
numerous valleys where corn was grown. The Arcadians regarded themselves as the
most ancient people in Greece: the Greek writers call them indigenous and Pelasgians.
They were chiefly employed in hunting and in the tending of cattle, whence their
worship of Pan, who was especially the god of Arcadia, and of Artemis. They were
passionately fond of music, and cultivated it with success. The Arcadians experienced
fewer changes than any other people in Greece, and retained possession of their
country upon the conquest of the rest of the Peloponnesus by the Dorians. After
the Second Messenian War the different towns became independent republics, of
which the most important were Mantinea, Tegea, Orchomenus, Psophis, and Pheneus.
Like the Swiss, the Arcadians frequently served as mercenaries. The Lacedaemonians
made many attempts to obtain possession of parts of Arcadia, but these attempts
were finally frustrated by the battle of Leuctra (B.C. 371); and in order to resist
all future aggressions on the part of Sparta, the Arcadians, upon the advice of
Epaminondas, built the city of Megalopolis. They subsequently joined the Achaean
League, and finally became subject to the Romans.
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ΘΥΡΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΣΤΡΟΣ
The chief town in Cynuria, the district on the borders of Laconia and Argolis, was situated upon a height on the bay of the sea called after it Sinus Thyreates. The territory of Thyrea was called Thyreatis.
ΛΑΔΩΝ (Ποταμός) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
A river in Arcadia, rising near Clitor, and falling into the Alpheus, between Heraea and Phrixa.
ΜΑΡΑΘΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
A town of Arcadia at the source of the Buphagus.
ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΙΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
The most recent but the most important of the cities of Arcadia,
was founded on the advice of Epaminondas after the battle of Leuctra, B.C. 371,
and was formed out of the inhabitants of thirty-eight villages. It was situated
in the district Maenalia, near the frontiers of Messenia, on the river Helisson,
which flowed through the city. It became afterwards one of the chief cities of
the Achaean League. Philopoemen and the historian Polybius were natives of Megalopolis.
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ΟΡΕΣΘΕΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΒΑΛΤΕΤΣΙ
(Oresteion) or Orestheum (Orestheion), also called Oresthasium (Oresthasion) by Pausanias. A town of Arcadia, southeast of Megalopolis, in the district of Oresthis. Its ruins, according to Pausanias, were to be seen to the right of the road leading from Megalopolis to Tegaea. Orestes died here.
ΠΑΛΛΑΝΤΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΤΡΙΠΟΛΗ
(Pallantion). An ancient town of Arcadia, near Tegea, said to
have been founded by Pallas, son of Lycaon. Evander is said to have come from
this place, and to have called the town which he founded on the banks of the Tiber
Pallanteum (afterwards Palantium and Palatium), after the Arcadian town. Hence
Evander is called Pallantius heros.
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ΠΑΡΡΑΣΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
A district in the south of Arcadia. The adjective Parrhasius is frequently used by the poets as equivalent to Arcadian.
ΠΑΡΩΡΙΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
A town in Southern Arcadia, founded by Paroreus, the grandson of Lycaon.
ΤΕΓΕΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
Now Piali; an important city of Arcadia, the capital of the
district Tegeatis, which was bounded on the east by Argolis and Laconica, on the
south by Laconia, on the west by Maenalia, and on the north by the territory of
Mantinea. It was one of the most ancient towns of Arcadia, and is said to have
been founded by Tegeates, the son of Lycaon. The Tegeatae sent 3000 men to the
battle of Plataea, in which they were distinguished for their bravery. They remained
faithful to Sparta in the Peloponnesian War; but after the battle of Leuctra they
joined the rest of the Arcadians in establishing their independence. During the
wars of the Achaean League, Tegea was taken both by Cleomenes, king of Sparta,
and Antigonus Doson, king of Macedonia, and the ally of the Achaeans.
This text is cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ΤΡΑΠΕΖΟΥΣ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
A city of Arcadia, on the Alpheus, the name of which was mythically
derived from the trapeza, or altar, on which Lycaon was said to have offered human
sacrifices to Zeus. At the time of the building of Megalopolis, the inhabitants
of Trapezus, as was alleged, rather than be transferred to the new city, migrated
to the shores of the Euxine, and their city fell to ruin.
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ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑ
A town in Arcadia, south of Megalopolis, on the road to Sparta, twenty stadia from the Laconian frontier.
ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ
Region of central Peloponnese.
Arcadia owes its name to the mythological hero Arcas, the son of Zeus
and the nymph Callisto. Callisto, Lycaon's daughter, had pledged to stay a virgin
and was spending her life hunting in the company of the goddess Artemis, Apollo's
sister. But Zeus fell in love with her and seduced her by taking the form of either
Artemis or her brother Apollo. From Zeus, Callisto gave birth to Arcas. But, because
she had not kept her pledge of virginity, or upon request from a jealous Hera,
Artemis killed her. Zeus, then, changed her into the constellation Ursa Major
(the great bear) and entrusted their son Arcas to Maea, Hermes' mother, who raised
him.
Arcas succeeded Lycaon's son Nyctimus as king of the Pelasgians of
Peloponnese, who were hereafter
called Arcadians, their country being thus called Arcadia. Arcas was said to have
taught his people to grow wheat, cook bread and spin wool.
From a more historical standpoint, it seems that the inhabitants of
Arcadia didn't change much over time and resisted invasions. The population remained
for long disseminated in many small villages and it is not until the end of the
VIth and beginning of the Vth century B. C. that two cities developed in Arcadia:
Mantinea and Tegea.
Arcadia is a relatively poor and dry country in which it is hard to
grow crops. In ancient times, it was primarily a region of cattle rearing, with
herds of horses, sheep and goats, in which shepherds, under the protection of
their god Pan (whose origin can indeed be traced back to Arcadia), occupied a
leading position, unlike what was the case in the rest of Greece.
Arcadia was also a country of marshes, in basins enclosed by mountains that retained
rainwater, which constituted ideal bird-hunting grounds. Despite the harshness
of their country, the Arcadians were known for their mild manners and love of
music, which may explain why they played a leading role in Greek representation
of the origins of man. Yet, they were also good fighters and were in great demand
as mercenaries.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
ΑΖΑΝΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
ΑΙΓΥΤΙΣ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ
ΑΚΑΚΗΣΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
ΑΡΚΑΔΙΑ (Αρχαία περιοχή) ΠΕΛΟΠΟΝΝΗΣΟΣ
Arcadia, Arkadia, Pelasgia
ΒΕΛΕΜΙΝΑ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΦΑΛΑΙΣΙΑ
ΒΟΥΦΑΣΙΟΝ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΓΟΡΤΥΣ
ΓΑΘΕΑΙ (Αρχαία πόλη) ΜΕΓΑΛΟΠΟΛΗ
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